FDLE scandal spared former SAC Villanueva. She is now heading Public Corruption unit

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FDLE’s Miami regional office ‘like ‘The Walking Dead'”
Filed under A1 TOP STORY, FLORIDA COMMISSION ON HUMAN RELATIONS, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT{NO COMMENTS}

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By Francisco Alvarado, FloridaBulldog.org


Miami FDLE Agent Addy Villanueva, former special agent in charge. Photo: CBSMiami.com
The Miami regional office of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was a dysfunctional, hostile workplace where the special agent-in-charge, Addy Villanueva, was in the dark about turmoil between rank-and-file officers and her abrasive second-in-command, Robert Breeden.

That’s the conclusion of a six-month internal FDLE investigation that ended with Breeden being forced out and Villanueva, the first Hispanic female to serve as a special agent-in-charge, agreeing to accept a demotion.

FloridaBulldog.org used Florida’s public records law to obtain a copy of the final report, which shows that agents attached to the FDLE’s Office of Executive Investigations interviewed 67 current and former special agents, two statewide prosecutors and others.

POTTY-MOUTH MICROMANAGER?

Forty-two agents, the two prosecutors and four other FDLE employees described Breeden as a nightmare boss: a potty-mouthed micromanager who blew his stack over office minutiae and bullied subordinates, high-ranking peers and cops from other agencies.

Breeden, in his sworn statement last September, denied the allegations that were sustained against him.

“I categorically deny mistreating or abusing anybody,” Breeden said. “It certainly has never been my motive. I have no malice toward anybody.”


Former Miami Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge Robert Breeden
Breeden, 52, did not return a message sent to his Facebook account requesting comment. On December 29, he filed a whistleblower complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations, alleging he was unjustly fired for reporting “misfeasance, malfeasance and gross misconduct” by Villanueva.

The complaint alleges Breeden told then-FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey at a July 24, 2013 meeting that Villanueva, who was getting divorced at the time, had repeatedly asked him to use his state car to give rides to her boyfriend, a Miami-Dade cop. She also used FDLE funds to buy a printer for her home and was hardly in the office, Breeden alleged.

When Villanueva learned Breeden had ratted her out to Bailey, she gathered her troops in Miami for a witch-hunt aimed at destroying his 20-year-career with the state’s top law enforcement agency, the complaint says.

Breeden’s Tallahassee attorney, Tiffany Cruz, said no one at FDLE had a bad word to say about her client until he went against Villanueva. “No one ever complained Bob was a tyrant,” Cruz said. “It was convenient timing. A majority of the people who made statements against Bob are aligned with Addy.”

BAILEY HAS ENOUGH

Nevertheless, the 113-page investigative report prepared by Inspector Keith B. Rid**** was enough for Bailey. In one of his final acts as FDLE commissioner before Gov. Rick Scott forced him out last month, Bailey shook up his management team in Miami by removing Villanueva as special-agent-in-charge and forcing Breeden to retire. He is using up accrued leave time until Feb. 3, his official retirement date.

FDLE spokesman Steve Arthur said Villanueva asked to be demoted to a supervisor position.

According to the report, special agents of the FDLE’s Miami Regional Operations Center – which covers Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties – had been having problems with Breeden since his days as a line supervisor seven years ago.

Special agent Leslie D’Ambrosia, who’s been with FDLE for 27 years, said her first encounter with Breeden’s unpleasant personality occurred during the Republican Governor’s Conference held in Tallahassee in November 2008.

She said Breeden screamed at her in front of a group of civilians because she did not want to answer his question in public about where they were taking one of the governors. “She feels that was the beginning of the end of their relationship,” the report states.

“TEFLON BOB”

D’Ambrosia claimed Breeden let people know he had friends in high places, especially James Madden, one of Bailey’s deputy commissioners who retired last year. “His favorite name to drop is that of Jim Madden,” she said. “There’s a perception of him being ‘Teflon Bob.”

Special agent Kristen Hoffacker recalled that Breeden aggressively poked her in the shoulder when he asked her where D’Ambrosia was during a training session for officer involved shootings last year.

“It may not have been abusive, but she felt that it was definitely inappropriate,” the report states. “She said the poke or shove was a little bit forceful and since it was during the instruction it caught her off guard.”

Special agent supervisor John Vecchio described the atmosphere in the Miami headquarters like “a family with an abusive father.”

“The father’s abuse is somewhat tolerable at first,” Vecchio said. “But when left unchecked becomes worse over the years and gets to the point where the whole family becomes dysfunctional.”

Vecchio claimed Breeden would often berate him, and that did the same with others, including D’Ambrosia.

“Is it me or is Leslie a complete *****?” the report says Breeden once told Vecchio.

Susan Kopp, another special agent supervisor, said Breeden constantly critiqued her management style and the agents she assigned to her team. Special agent Donald Cannon, who reported to Kopp, told investigators Kopp looked like “Napoleon Bonaparte after Waterloo” following her meetings with Breeden.

Cannon said he was relieved that he worked in the FDLE Miami’s satellite office in West Palm Beach. “I go down there, it’s like ‘The Walking Dead,’” Cannon said, comparing the Miami operations center to the hit television series about a zombie apocalypse. “No one is happy. You can’t be productive when all you hear is bad things.”

Even outsiders took notice of Breeden’s mistreatment of subordinates.

Oscar Gelpi, an assistant statewide prosecutor based in Fort Lauderdale, told investigators that he was present at a residence where a search warrant was being executed on June 17, 2013. Breeden was throwing his weight around and “barking at someone about how he’s the boss,” Gelpi said.

Gelpi’s colleague, deputy statewide prosecutor Julie Hogan, was also present for the search warrant. “Everyone was on edge once Bob was there,” she said. “People find Bob very intimidating and walk around not knowing really where he stands. I get that impression all the time working with FDLE.”

BREEDEN’S SUPPORTERS

But Breeden also had supporters. Investigators interviewed 29 former and current special agents, four non-sworn FDLE employees, and two Miami-Dade prosecutors who described Breeden as a solid, no-nonsense administrator who did not mistreat co-workers.

“Typically the people that have a problems are the people who don’t produce,” said Special Agent William Saladrigas.

Villanueva, however, never caught wind of the dissension swirling around her until after Breeden complained, according to the report.

In her June 17 sworn statement, Villanueva revealed that she and Breeden expressed their distrust for each other during a meeting near the end of October 2013. Earlier that month, she had gone to Tallahassee to meet with Bailey, who told her someone in her command staff had accused her of misconduct.

Villanueva told the executive office investigators that Breeden didn’t want to accept responsibility for his mistreatment of rank-and-file officers. Breeden tried to turn it around on her by claiming that whatever was wrong was her fault, she said.

Breeden, however, told investigators “the whole thing started to unravel” after his 2013 meeting with Bailey about Villanueva.

“For 19 years I never had a problem,” Breeden said. “I’m terribly sorry that [Villanueva] has chosen to portray this the way she has.”

[Unregistered]

How can an agency of the caliber of FDLE permit itself to be saddled with an individual such as Addy Villanueva to head its Public Corruption squad? Does the new SAC at Miami don't know that this lady is a simple puppet for State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle and that her move to this prestigious squad is nothing but a thinly veiled attempt to continue to cover up for the great corruptors in this area? How about looking into the county contracts handed out by Mayor Carlos Gimenez to the Munilla brothers of MCM Construction? Or how about investigating the relationship between Gimenez, his son Carlos Jr., lobbyists Freddy Balsera, Jorge Luis Lopez, Rafael Garcia Toledo, Felix Lasarte and the cast of heavy campaign contributors who are sucking us dry? Does this new SAC not read the local papers and understand the violations of Sunshine law conducted by Gimenez with Donald Trump to steal our Crandon Golf Course? What kind of expertise does this SAC bring to the table when a third grade student can match political contributions to Gimenez's campaign to county contract receipients? How can this piece of work Villanueva be given the reins of the only unit left to stop all the local corruption? This is an embarrassment beyond compare! Meanwhile, according to Rundle, there is no corruption in Miami Dade County other than the occasional fool who steal two hours of OT or a tire from a county facility. Wake up FDLE, Rundle, Jose Arrojo, the cast of conspirators at the SAO, Joe Centorino, and Mary Cagle are our biggest enemies! These are the people in place to keep the lid down and ensure no one gets pinched! Take your cases to a statewide prosecutor, fire Villanueva and proof that your local office has not been castrated beyond repair!

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Two things are for sure: 1) she will eventually dump her boy toy after he catches her screwing her next victim and 2) she will embarrass FDLE as the head of the Corruption Unit. The only question is which will happen first.

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It may just happen that the two events happen simultaneously! Hahaha. FDLE sure knows how to pick 'em. And of all things to place that disgraced woman in charge of. FDLE and this new administration in Miami is a joke over letting her stay and assigning her to Public Corruption.

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Wow. If I didn't know better, This post was about FHP!

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Wow. If I didn't know better, This post was about FHP!

Clearly FDLE is just glorified troopers!!!!

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Clearly FDLE is just glorified troopers!!!!

Why would you want to slap troopers like that ??? Even troopers follow the law, Some in FDLE think they are above the law..

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Why would you want to slap troopers like that ??? Even troopers follow the law, Some in FDLE think they are above the law..

True that!

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An ethics complaint was filed last week on Villanueva. Let's see what the Ethics Commission thinks about all of her illegal and unethical behavior.

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An ethics complaint was filed last week on Villanueva. Let's see what the Ethics Commission thinks about all of her illegal and unethical behavior.

From dealing with the ETHICS BOARD FIRST HAND.. on a Mayor of a City issue who tried to cover a death case up.... they are a joke and a political entity that cant do crap !