08-16-2009, 07:16 PM
At the Lee County Sheriff's Office, the policy regarding association with criminals and convicted felons is clear: Don't.
In the last five years, 10 employees have been investigated internally for possibly violating that code. Seven cases were substantiated. For solely breaking that rule, one employee was fired and one resigned.
Yet during that same time, Sheriff Mike Scott maintained a close friendship with a convicted money launderer and kidnapper.
Scott refused three requests to discuss the matter face to face. In e-mails, he classified the relationship first as "an acquaintance," and later a "friendship."
Phone records and interviews reveal a tight personal bond, which branched into campaign involvement and possibly influence over personnel actions. A corruption investigation targeting the felon, **** Spence, and his relationship with local law enforcement officials was under way earlier this year when Scott demoted, transferred or fired several deputies connected to it.
Spence was convicted in 1995 in New York of laundering more than $100 million for the Colombian Cali Cartel, a violent drug smuggling organization that Time Magazine in 1991 tagged as the No. 1 supplier of cocaine to the U.S. and Europe. According to federal indictments, Spence, along with two lawyers, recruited 20 money couriers to help launder the cartel's money into offshore accounts. Spence cooperated with authorities and served 36 months in prison before moving to Lee County.
Records show that between October 2005 to August 2008, they talked 371 times. During his second campaign, from January 2008 and August 2008, the sheriff had 162 conversations with Spence.
The conversations lasted anywhere from 1 minute to 94 minutes, sometimes as early as 5:40 a.m. and as late as midnight. There were days Spence was the first person the sheriff spoke to in the morning, and the last person he spoke to at night.
Connections
Kerry Griner, a former sheriff's captain who resigned in 2005, said it was no secret Spence had the ear of the sheriff.
"They know that **** can get info to the sheriff," Griner said. "If you don't have the (guts) to say it yourself, you tell **** and he can get the word out."
Griner met Spence after Griner left the agency, saying he was forced out by Scott.
"They were very, very tight," Griner said of Spence and the sheriff. "I know (Spence) has pushed certain agendas to Mike. He said he'd get all my stuff straightened out with the sheriff. But here I'm thinking, 'My record of 26 years doesn't speak for itself? You have this guy, a convicted felon, who has the influence to convince you of it?' That's dangerous."
Phone records show several deputies also conversed with Spence, even after being warned by a captain of Spence's criminal history. Many frequented the store he manages, The Alva Village Market, as seen in video recordings from the corruption investigation and as witnessed by News-Press staffers in June.
"When you look at the policy, the policy doesn't say they can't go meet at a public establishment, so I think that's the first thing," sheriff spokesman Sgt. Larry King said. "The second thing is that, again, we're not talking about someone who is actively involved in felony activity at this time. I think that's the distinction here."
But former Lee sheriffs Rod Shoap and John McDougall both said there is no distinction in the policy for felons who haven't been in recent trouble.
State Attorney Stephen Russell, who oversees prosecutors in Lee and four surrounding counties, also has maintained a friendship with Spence. Phone records show Russell talked to Spence 15 times between January 2008 and June 2009. This communication, too, continued after Russell learned of Spence's background. The state attorney's office, unlike the sheriff's office, does not have a policy restricting associations with felons, Russell said.
Campaigns
Russell said Spence was "generally supportive" during his campaign for state attorney, donating $500 through the store in 2005 and helping to organize a fundraiser that year. Russell said he did not learn of Spence's past until the summer of 2008.
"I look at (his record) on the surface, and I see all the sexy words: Cali Cartel, federal indictment and New York City," Russell said. "If it happened in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, it wouldn't have the same effect, and I think you have to keep that in context."
Lt. John Bores, who retired last year, said he knew Spence as Scott's campaign manager. He recalled a run-in with Spence's son, Richard Spence Jr., now 19, before the 2008 election.
"One of Spence's close friends, Lt. Shawn Ramsey, called me about this guy who had Nazi flags in his yard, and who also had the sheriff's campaign signs out," Bores said. "So Ramsey tells Spence's kid to go take the sheriff's signs from out of the guy's yard. So sure enough, he goes there, takes the campaign signs, and my guys catch him. I'm thinking, 'Oh great, here we go. It's election time.' I let him go because he was **** Spence's kid and the sheriff's buddy. I did what I had to do to save my job."
Spence described Ramsey as "a close friend." Phone records show Spence and Ramsey have spoken twice this year, once for a half-hour in May. Ramsey declined to comment through spokesman King.
Spence moved to Lee County in the late 1990s after his release from prison. His children attended the same school as Scott's, and that's how the two met, Spence said.
In fact, Spence said he made a lot of friends - Russell and Scott, as well as former Hendry County Sheriff Ronnie Lee, former state attorney Joe D'Alessandro and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, R-Fort Myers.
Mack spokeswoman Stephanie Dubois said Spence hosted a fundraising event for Mack at the Alva store in 2004.
Spence said he raised $500,000 for Gov. Charlie Crist's campaign for governor. Katie Gordon, spokeswoman with the Republican Party of Florida, said she could not verify Spence's involvement.
Spence said he simply enjoys participating in politics.
“I’m not in it for freebies or anything like that,” Spence said. “I don’t need anything from anybody.”
'Scott for sheriff'Spence denies he was Scott’s campaign manager, though he said he would assist the sheriff however needed.
The sheriff has said his mother was in charge of managing his campaign. Others, however, have said it was clear Spence took on the role.
“I know he’s real good personal friends with Mike Scott, and was his campaign manager for both campaigns,” said former sheriff Shoap. “That was common knowledge all over the department. ... (The store) was a big campaign spot for Mike.”
Spence confirmed he organized fundraising events for Scott, such as one at Groove Street comedy club in south Fort Myers and another at what was then Brixz in Fort Myers.
Louis St. Laurent, the agency’s former legal council whom Scott hired as a political consultant in 2008, said Spence was active in both of Scott’s campaigns.
Elections records show the sheriff paid Spence $1,877 on July 1, 2008, and $2,142 on Aug. 7, 2008, to build and distribute signs from his store. Spence said he never donated directly to the sheriff’s campaign. But donations were made from the store twice: $500 in June 2003 and $500 in April 2007. Scott returned $450 to Spence in August 2008, after he reportedly learned of Spence’s past.
Cape Coral police Officer Mike Anderson said he and dozens of other law enforcement officers came to the Alva store in the summer of 2008 to help distribute Scott’s signs. Anderson said he wasn’t aware of Spence’s background. Had he known, he said, he wouldn’t have gone there.
“People have this perception and this expectation that as a police officer, you’re not going to hang around people like that,” Anderson said.
Coming to lightExactly when the sheriff learned of Spence’s past isn’t clear.
Griner said when he found out last year, Spence told him the sheriff had known since the beginning of their friendship.
(5 of 8)
But Spence told The News-Press the sheriff didn’t know until August 2008, when former Chief Deputy Charles Ferrante provided the sheriff with a detailed report.
Ferrante had begun digging into Spence’s past. He found the news articles on the New York case. He asked St. Laurent to prepare a report. Ferrante delivered it to Scott on Aug. 8, 2008.
“He didn’t say anything except that he would make (State Attorney Stephen) Russell aware,” Ferrante said.
Spence, asked why he wouldn’t have told the sheriff previously, especially given their closeness, responded, “Some people I tell, some people I don’t.”
After Aug. 8, 2008, calls between the sheriff and Spence dropped significantly. In an e-mail to The News-Press, the sheriff wrote:
“The fact is, the volume and length of calls to which you refer changed dramatically at the point in time where I became aware of things that concerned me, and the phone records to that end are obvious. Still I maintain a friendship with **** Spence, as do many people. ...”
Spence confirmed the ongoing relationship describing, in June, their friendship as “better than ever.” He said he has been to the sheriff’s house numerous times, and is close with several members of the sheriff’s family.
Former sheriff McDougall said a sheriff is beholden to agency policy on association with felons, and in that instance would have an obligation to cut ties completely.
“As sheriff, you have to avoid even the appearance of impropriety,” McDougall said.
St. Laurent, a former chief assistant state attorney and later a defense attorney who represented members of the Medellin drug cartel in Miami, said it was suspicious that someone with Spence’s background would be forming attachments to powerful people.
“We don’t know what he was doing,” St. Laurent said. “You have him involved in the campaign of three sheriffs in three counties and the state attorney. You have to ask yourself ‘What is the motivation?’”
A warningIn November 2008, Capt. Ed Tamayo e-mailed employees working in Bravo District, which includes Lehigh Acres and Alva. Attached was the agency policy regarding association with felons, the indictment in Spence’s case and the words, “It has recently come to light that a local Alva store owner is a convicted felon, please govern yourselves accordingly.”
(6 of 8)
Tamayo said he was given the instruction by then-Maj. Scott Ciresi, who was ordered by Charles Ferrante.
Yet deputies continued to frequent the store.
Spence said he is friendly with many deputies, but does not offer free food or other items. He will at times, though, offer a discount. Accepting discounts is also against agency policy.
On Nov. 19, the sheriff held an administrative meeting to discuss the proposed promotion of Rod Shoap’s son, Chris, to sergeant overseeing the gang unit. In attendance were the sheriff; Charles Ferrante; his brother, then-Captain Dominick Ferrante; Col. Mike Waite; then-Maj. Scott Ciresi; and then-Lt. Lee Bushong. Both Ferrantes and Bushong said the sheriff opposed the promotion, and in that meeting, cited a conversation he had with Spence as the reason.
Charles Ferrante said he ordered everyone else out of the room except Waite and the sheriff and demanded to know why the sheriff was still speaking to Spence. Further, he wanted to know why Scott was allowing it to affect personnel decisions. Dominick Ferrante recalls hearing shouts from outside the office.
The sheriff had no answer or apparent reaction, Charles Ferrante said. Shoap was promoted the next day.
Waite and Ciresi declined to comment. Bushong confirmed the details of the meeting in an interview with The News-Press after he was fired. He was later rehired, and has not agreed to be interviewed since.
Spence remembers talk of the promotion and said he advised the sheriff against it. Still he maintains he has no say in who is promoted and who isn’t. When asked if deputies were aware he had the ear of the sheriff, Spence replied, “I would think so. Everyone knows that.”
InvestigationsAfter that, without the sheriff’s knowledge, Charles Ferrante ordered a covert investigation to find out who in the agency was interacting with Spence.
King confirmed the existence of that investigation and said all involved — Bushong, Lt. Chris Reeves, Sgt. Jeremiah Marcotte, an undercover detective and a sergeant — were reporting directly to Dominick Ferrante.
(7 of 8)
A pole camera was set up outside Spence’s store in late November or early December. In addition to learning which deputies were going there and possibly giving Spence information, investigators hoped to catch Spence’s son, wanted at the time for home invasion robbery.
But within two weeks, the investigation was halted. Spence found out about the hidden camera. He said he notices everything around the store, and simply spotted it one day.
Charles Ferrante said the lens would have been impossible even for a trained investigator to notice from afar. He believes Spence was tipped off.
King said in July no physical evidence of the investigation existed aside from video recordings. But e-mails among detectives obtained by The News-Press after that prove investigative reports were filed daily. When confronted with evidence of the reports’ existence earlier this month, King said they would be handed over. The News-Press is still waiting on those files, but obtained one prepared by Marcotte in January.
“After a short time of deployment, the camera and operation was found to be compromised,” Marcotte reported. “... It is the belief that the apparent seepage of sensitive operational information amongst the LCSO community may have contributed to mission compromising and may have further reaching roots into the department.”
According to that same report, one of those who learned of the investigation was Morgan Bowden, a retired sheriff’s captain who now works under contract with the agency organizing special events. Phone records show Bowden spoke with Spence 25 times between November 2008 and June 2009. Bowden declined to comment saying, “The sheriff said no.”
Scott refused a formal investigation to learn where the leak originated and ordered the camera removed, the Ferrantes said.
Col. Mike Waite said to his knowledge, that’s where it ended.
But e-mails among detectives involved show the camera remained up at least through February 26. There was even an upgrade to the camera so detectives could see more clearly.
(8 of 8)
Charles Ferrante said the investigation continued, though it appeared to most, including the sheriff, it had ceased. Charles Ferrante showed The News-Press deputies’ phone records and other information he gathered during that time in an effort to determine who was talking to Spence and what they were talking about.
In one e-mail dated Feb. 26, detectives discuss working to obtain certain court orders as part of the investigation. But it didn’t get that far.
AccusationsWhat followed in March was a complete overhaul of agency hierarchy. Many of those involved in the investigation were transferred, demoted, pushed out or fired.
Dominick Ferrante resigned, accused of lying. His division, Special Investigations, was reorganized.
Charles Ferrante announced his retirement while on medical leave. Two days later, the sheriff announced a months-old accusation suddenly prompted an investigation against him. The News-Press later learned no such investigation existed. The accuser, Sgt. Ryan Bell, also was communicating with Spence — seven times between August 2008 and April 2009. He, too, declined to comment.
One of the undercover detectives was reassigned. Bushong was accused of threatening an employee, demoted and later fired. He was rehired two months later. Ciresi was demoted to captain with a $20,000 pay cut; the sheriff said it was not punishment, but part of the reorganization. Marcotte was transferred from narcotics to night shift supervisor. Waite was moved from the No. 3 position in the agency with about 1,550 in his command to solely overseeing the corrections bureau, with about 600 in his command. He is set to retire in October.
Those who kept their jobs declined to talk about it.
Charles Ferrante, when asked why he never spoke out while still at the agency, responded:
“I never got that far. I was trying to do this investigation to bring it to light, and I was shut down. I was trying to connect the dots, but I’ll tell you this much: There were a lot of dots.”
In the last five years, 10 employees have been investigated internally for possibly violating that code. Seven cases were substantiated. For solely breaking that rule, one employee was fired and one resigned.
Yet during that same time, Sheriff Mike Scott maintained a close friendship with a convicted money launderer and kidnapper.
Scott refused three requests to discuss the matter face to face. In e-mails, he classified the relationship first as "an acquaintance," and later a "friendship."
Phone records and interviews reveal a tight personal bond, which branched into campaign involvement and possibly influence over personnel actions. A corruption investigation targeting the felon, **** Spence, and his relationship with local law enforcement officials was under way earlier this year when Scott demoted, transferred or fired several deputies connected to it.
Spence was convicted in 1995 in New York of laundering more than $100 million for the Colombian Cali Cartel, a violent drug smuggling organization that Time Magazine in 1991 tagged as the No. 1 supplier of cocaine to the U.S. and Europe. According to federal indictments, Spence, along with two lawyers, recruited 20 money couriers to help launder the cartel's money into offshore accounts. Spence cooperated with authorities and served 36 months in prison before moving to Lee County.
Records show that between October 2005 to August 2008, they talked 371 times. During his second campaign, from January 2008 and August 2008, the sheriff had 162 conversations with Spence.
The conversations lasted anywhere from 1 minute to 94 minutes, sometimes as early as 5:40 a.m. and as late as midnight. There were days Spence was the first person the sheriff spoke to in the morning, and the last person he spoke to at night.
Connections
Kerry Griner, a former sheriff's captain who resigned in 2005, said it was no secret Spence had the ear of the sheriff.
"They know that **** can get info to the sheriff," Griner said. "If you don't have the (guts) to say it yourself, you tell **** and he can get the word out."
Griner met Spence after Griner left the agency, saying he was forced out by Scott.
"They were very, very tight," Griner said of Spence and the sheriff. "I know (Spence) has pushed certain agendas to Mike. He said he'd get all my stuff straightened out with the sheriff. But here I'm thinking, 'My record of 26 years doesn't speak for itself? You have this guy, a convicted felon, who has the influence to convince you of it?' That's dangerous."
Phone records show several deputies also conversed with Spence, even after being warned by a captain of Spence's criminal history. Many frequented the store he manages, The Alva Village Market, as seen in video recordings from the corruption investigation and as witnessed by News-Press staffers in June.
"When you look at the policy, the policy doesn't say they can't go meet at a public establishment, so I think that's the first thing," sheriff spokesman Sgt. Larry King said. "The second thing is that, again, we're not talking about someone who is actively involved in felony activity at this time. I think that's the distinction here."
But former Lee sheriffs Rod Shoap and John McDougall both said there is no distinction in the policy for felons who haven't been in recent trouble.
State Attorney Stephen Russell, who oversees prosecutors in Lee and four surrounding counties, also has maintained a friendship with Spence. Phone records show Russell talked to Spence 15 times between January 2008 and June 2009. This communication, too, continued after Russell learned of Spence's background. The state attorney's office, unlike the sheriff's office, does not have a policy restricting associations with felons, Russell said.
Campaigns
Russell said Spence was "generally supportive" during his campaign for state attorney, donating $500 through the store in 2005 and helping to organize a fundraiser that year. Russell said he did not learn of Spence's past until the summer of 2008.
"I look at (his record) on the surface, and I see all the sexy words: Cali Cartel, federal indictment and New York City," Russell said. "If it happened in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, it wouldn't have the same effect, and I think you have to keep that in context."
Lt. John Bores, who retired last year, said he knew Spence as Scott's campaign manager. He recalled a run-in with Spence's son, Richard Spence Jr., now 19, before the 2008 election.
"One of Spence's close friends, Lt. Shawn Ramsey, called me about this guy who had Nazi flags in his yard, and who also had the sheriff's campaign signs out," Bores said. "So Ramsey tells Spence's kid to go take the sheriff's signs from out of the guy's yard. So sure enough, he goes there, takes the campaign signs, and my guys catch him. I'm thinking, 'Oh great, here we go. It's election time.' I let him go because he was **** Spence's kid and the sheriff's buddy. I did what I had to do to save my job."
Spence described Ramsey as "a close friend." Phone records show Spence and Ramsey have spoken twice this year, once for a half-hour in May. Ramsey declined to comment through spokesman King.
Spence moved to Lee County in the late 1990s after his release from prison. His children attended the same school as Scott's, and that's how the two met, Spence said.
In fact, Spence said he made a lot of friends - Russell and Scott, as well as former Hendry County Sheriff Ronnie Lee, former state attorney Joe D'Alessandro and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, R-Fort Myers.
Mack spokeswoman Stephanie Dubois said Spence hosted a fundraising event for Mack at the Alva store in 2004.
Spence said he raised $500,000 for Gov. Charlie Crist's campaign for governor. Katie Gordon, spokeswoman with the Republican Party of Florida, said she could not verify Spence's involvement.
Spence said he simply enjoys participating in politics.
“I’m not in it for freebies or anything like that,” Spence said. “I don’t need anything from anybody.”
'Scott for sheriff'Spence denies he was Scott’s campaign manager, though he said he would assist the sheriff however needed.
The sheriff has said his mother was in charge of managing his campaign. Others, however, have said it was clear Spence took on the role.
“I know he’s real good personal friends with Mike Scott, and was his campaign manager for both campaigns,” said former sheriff Shoap. “That was common knowledge all over the department. ... (The store) was a big campaign spot for Mike.”
Spence confirmed he organized fundraising events for Scott, such as one at Groove Street comedy club in south Fort Myers and another at what was then Brixz in Fort Myers.
Louis St. Laurent, the agency’s former legal council whom Scott hired as a political consultant in 2008, said Spence was active in both of Scott’s campaigns.
Elections records show the sheriff paid Spence $1,877 on July 1, 2008, and $2,142 on Aug. 7, 2008, to build and distribute signs from his store. Spence said he never donated directly to the sheriff’s campaign. But donations were made from the store twice: $500 in June 2003 and $500 in April 2007. Scott returned $450 to Spence in August 2008, after he reportedly learned of Spence’s past.
Cape Coral police Officer Mike Anderson said he and dozens of other law enforcement officers came to the Alva store in the summer of 2008 to help distribute Scott’s signs. Anderson said he wasn’t aware of Spence’s background. Had he known, he said, he wouldn’t have gone there.
“People have this perception and this expectation that as a police officer, you’re not going to hang around people like that,” Anderson said.
Coming to lightExactly when the sheriff learned of Spence’s past isn’t clear.
Griner said when he found out last year, Spence told him the sheriff had known since the beginning of their friendship.
(5 of 8)
But Spence told The News-Press the sheriff didn’t know until August 2008, when former Chief Deputy Charles Ferrante provided the sheriff with a detailed report.
Ferrante had begun digging into Spence’s past. He found the news articles on the New York case. He asked St. Laurent to prepare a report. Ferrante delivered it to Scott on Aug. 8, 2008.
“He didn’t say anything except that he would make (State Attorney Stephen) Russell aware,” Ferrante said.
Spence, asked why he wouldn’t have told the sheriff previously, especially given their closeness, responded, “Some people I tell, some people I don’t.”
After Aug. 8, 2008, calls between the sheriff and Spence dropped significantly. In an e-mail to The News-Press, the sheriff wrote:
“The fact is, the volume and length of calls to which you refer changed dramatically at the point in time where I became aware of things that concerned me, and the phone records to that end are obvious. Still I maintain a friendship with **** Spence, as do many people. ...”
Spence confirmed the ongoing relationship describing, in June, their friendship as “better than ever.” He said he has been to the sheriff’s house numerous times, and is close with several members of the sheriff’s family.
Former sheriff McDougall said a sheriff is beholden to agency policy on association with felons, and in that instance would have an obligation to cut ties completely.
“As sheriff, you have to avoid even the appearance of impropriety,” McDougall said.
St. Laurent, a former chief assistant state attorney and later a defense attorney who represented members of the Medellin drug cartel in Miami, said it was suspicious that someone with Spence’s background would be forming attachments to powerful people.
“We don’t know what he was doing,” St. Laurent said. “You have him involved in the campaign of three sheriffs in three counties and the state attorney. You have to ask yourself ‘What is the motivation?’”
A warningIn November 2008, Capt. Ed Tamayo e-mailed employees working in Bravo District, which includes Lehigh Acres and Alva. Attached was the agency policy regarding association with felons, the indictment in Spence’s case and the words, “It has recently come to light that a local Alva store owner is a convicted felon, please govern yourselves accordingly.”
(6 of 8)
Tamayo said he was given the instruction by then-Maj. Scott Ciresi, who was ordered by Charles Ferrante.
Yet deputies continued to frequent the store.
Spence said he is friendly with many deputies, but does not offer free food or other items. He will at times, though, offer a discount. Accepting discounts is also against agency policy.
On Nov. 19, the sheriff held an administrative meeting to discuss the proposed promotion of Rod Shoap’s son, Chris, to sergeant overseeing the gang unit. In attendance were the sheriff; Charles Ferrante; his brother, then-Captain Dominick Ferrante; Col. Mike Waite; then-Maj. Scott Ciresi; and then-Lt. Lee Bushong. Both Ferrantes and Bushong said the sheriff opposed the promotion, and in that meeting, cited a conversation he had with Spence as the reason.
Charles Ferrante said he ordered everyone else out of the room except Waite and the sheriff and demanded to know why the sheriff was still speaking to Spence. Further, he wanted to know why Scott was allowing it to affect personnel decisions. Dominick Ferrante recalls hearing shouts from outside the office.
The sheriff had no answer or apparent reaction, Charles Ferrante said. Shoap was promoted the next day.
Waite and Ciresi declined to comment. Bushong confirmed the details of the meeting in an interview with The News-Press after he was fired. He was later rehired, and has not agreed to be interviewed since.
Spence remembers talk of the promotion and said he advised the sheriff against it. Still he maintains he has no say in who is promoted and who isn’t. When asked if deputies were aware he had the ear of the sheriff, Spence replied, “I would think so. Everyone knows that.”
InvestigationsAfter that, without the sheriff’s knowledge, Charles Ferrante ordered a covert investigation to find out who in the agency was interacting with Spence.
King confirmed the existence of that investigation and said all involved — Bushong, Lt. Chris Reeves, Sgt. Jeremiah Marcotte, an undercover detective and a sergeant — were reporting directly to Dominick Ferrante.
(7 of 8)
A pole camera was set up outside Spence’s store in late November or early December. In addition to learning which deputies were going there and possibly giving Spence information, investigators hoped to catch Spence’s son, wanted at the time for home invasion robbery.
But within two weeks, the investigation was halted. Spence found out about the hidden camera. He said he notices everything around the store, and simply spotted it one day.
Charles Ferrante said the lens would have been impossible even for a trained investigator to notice from afar. He believes Spence was tipped off.
King said in July no physical evidence of the investigation existed aside from video recordings. But e-mails among detectives obtained by The News-Press after that prove investigative reports were filed daily. When confronted with evidence of the reports’ existence earlier this month, King said they would be handed over. The News-Press is still waiting on those files, but obtained one prepared by Marcotte in January.
“After a short time of deployment, the camera and operation was found to be compromised,” Marcotte reported. “... It is the belief that the apparent seepage of sensitive operational information amongst the LCSO community may have contributed to mission compromising and may have further reaching roots into the department.”
According to that same report, one of those who learned of the investigation was Morgan Bowden, a retired sheriff’s captain who now works under contract with the agency organizing special events. Phone records show Bowden spoke with Spence 25 times between November 2008 and June 2009. Bowden declined to comment saying, “The sheriff said no.”
Scott refused a formal investigation to learn where the leak originated and ordered the camera removed, the Ferrantes said.
Col. Mike Waite said to his knowledge, that’s where it ended.
But e-mails among detectives involved show the camera remained up at least through February 26. There was even an upgrade to the camera so detectives could see more clearly.
(8 of 8)
Charles Ferrante said the investigation continued, though it appeared to most, including the sheriff, it had ceased. Charles Ferrante showed The News-Press deputies’ phone records and other information he gathered during that time in an effort to determine who was talking to Spence and what they were talking about.
In one e-mail dated Feb. 26, detectives discuss working to obtain certain court orders as part of the investigation. But it didn’t get that far.
AccusationsWhat followed in March was a complete overhaul of agency hierarchy. Many of those involved in the investigation were transferred, demoted, pushed out or fired.
Dominick Ferrante resigned, accused of lying. His division, Special Investigations, was reorganized.
Charles Ferrante announced his retirement while on medical leave. Two days later, the sheriff announced a months-old accusation suddenly prompted an investigation against him. The News-Press later learned no such investigation existed. The accuser, Sgt. Ryan Bell, also was communicating with Spence — seven times between August 2008 and April 2009. He, too, declined to comment.
One of the undercover detectives was reassigned. Bushong was accused of threatening an employee, demoted and later fired. He was rehired two months later. Ciresi was demoted to captain with a $20,000 pay cut; the sheriff said it was not punishment, but part of the reorganization. Marcotte was transferred from narcotics to night shift supervisor. Waite was moved from the No. 3 position in the agency with about 1,550 in his command to solely overseeing the corrections bureau, with about 600 in his command. He is set to retire in October.
Those who kept their jobs declined to talk about it.
Charles Ferrante, when asked why he never spoke out while still at the agency, responded:
“I never got that far. I was trying to do this investigation to bring it to light, and I was shut down. I was trying to connect the dots, but I’ll tell you this much: There were a lot of dots.”