If there was never any money missing, how could this happen? Owing to the fact BSO refuses to admit any wrong doing, nor will BSO disclose who made the original allegation to Internal Affairs, I will never know the reason this happened to me.

It could be as simple as a contentious race for the Sheriffs spot, with its negative effects seething throughout the agency adding to its already toxic environment. Maybe it was a simple rumor that got out of control. Maybe it was because I was a high paid female in a male dominated environment, with authority and a strong personality, managing a complex HR system, they barely understood how it worked or what my job really consisted of. Maybe it was pure ego and they thought I was an easy target.

Regardless of the reason, the facts are undisputed that 3 armed and uniformed law enforcement officers drove 4 hours outside of their jurisdiction and seized me and my belongings without a warrant or probable cause. They drove in unmarked police cars from Broward County to Orlando and unlawfully used their badges to obtain my room number from the front desk. The three armed, uniformed officers proceeded to my hotel room, after dark, where I was alone and entered my hotel room without my permission.

After a long 4 hour ride in the backseat of the BSO vehicle, they dropped me off in the middle of the night in front of my home and told me to get an attorney.

Three days later I saw a picture of me and my kids on the news, reporting that I was being accused of stealing a million dollars through the HR information System I managed at the Broward County Sheriffs Office. BSO kept the criminal case open for two years, refusing to speak to me or my attorney despite the fact that there was never any money missing, the State Attorneys Office said no evidence of a crime, no case and BSOs own Crimes Division detective said no evidence of a crime, no case. But BSO didn’t stop. They subpoenaed my personal bank accounts, wrapped my BSO office in crime tape, refused to give me my personal belongings from my office of 13 years.

Once they finally closed the unlawful criminal case against me, I sued them. That was 7 years ago. I have been in litigation with them since.

BSO refuses to settle. BSO refuses to admit wrong doing. BSO refuses to be held accountable for their numerous violations of my civil rights, their unlawful arrest outside of their jurisdiction or that their own deputies have lied under oath to cover for their misdeeds throughout this case.

That night, October 23, 2012, I lost my six figure career, long term friends, my foundation of what I created in life for myself, my husband and my 2 girls. I was unable to leave my house for months, afraid they would arrest me if I walked outside. I couldn’t drive my kids alone for over a year, fearing they would arrest me and take my kids. I have been called a liar and a thief while watching my children’s soccer games. I have been refused jobs, uninvited from gatherings, both of my parents have died before seeing me get justice for what BSO has done.

However, despite my fear then and now and the appalling misuse of power, I decided to fight back. Because I fought back, BSO has doubled down They have paid over a million dollars of Broward County tax dollars trying to run me out of court. But I am not leaving before we get justice, and neither is my attorney, thank goodness.

It’s not just why BSO did it in the first place, but why won’t they admit they are wrong? Ego again? Spite because I am fighting back even though they are the largest law enforcement agency in the State of Florida and thought they could bully me? Or maybe because the BSO contract attorneys have an endless pot of money they have been getting from the Broward Sheriffs Office budget dollars for the last 7 years while they drag this out. Attorneys with no respect for the law don’t settle if they can keep the case open and keep charging $250 an hour. And they love to continuously insult me as a person during hearings and motions as often as they can.

I guess me and my attorneys will see them at trial this year and let the jurors of our peers decide what it’s worth for what they have done to me.