Poor Wheeler

Back in November I likened the Scott Rothstein scandal to a slow-motion wrecking ball moving through Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti's command staff.



Rothstein and Wheeler in Rothstein's Gulfstream V on a trip to a UF football game
?It's still doing damage.
Since Rothstein imploded, the sheriff's one-time right-hand man, Lt. David Benjamin, has been demoted from Lamberti's inner circle and is the subject of several internal investigations.

Now it's Undersheriff Tom Wheeler's turn.

In a clear sign that Lamberti has lost confidence in Wheeler, the sheriff yesterday promoted Lt. Col. Ricky Frey to colonel with the title of (take a deep breath):

"Executive Director of the Department of Law Enforcement in Charge of All Law Enforcement Operations."

While the title may be a little redundant, it's also unambiguous: Frey answers to no one other than the sheriff. Sources say that Wheeler, who has been rendered little more a lame duck, was

none too happy about the sheriff's power shift.

In lieu of the sheriff, I spoke with Lamberti's good friend and confidante, attorney John Contini, who has become sort of an unofficial spokesman for the sheriff. Contini, after speaking with Lamberti about Frey's promotion, said Wheeler would "technically" remain undersheriff, but that Frey was "filling in a critical need" at the top of the agency.

"There are obviously critical needs where Frey is going," said Contini. "There are more changes that may occur subject to the exhaustion of various reviews. For the time being, Wheeler is still technically the undersheriff. The sheriff has clearly been let down by some people he thought he could trust."

Since Rothstein's fraud unraveled so has the knot of power Wheeler and Benjamin, close friends, held at the top of the agency. Wheeler's relationship with Rothstein, which involved unreported flights in Rothstein's Gulfstream V, is currently under internal investigation. Lamberti removed Benjamin as his executive officer last month after he learned that Benjamin escorted Rothstein to his jet when he fled the country for Morocco and secretly formed a consulting company that received at least $30,000 from the now-jailed swindler.

The new top dog, Frey, spent 25 years in the patrol and law enforcement side and was shot in the neck while on duty during the deadly Waffle House shootout in 1980 (Lamberti was called as back-up during the shootout as well). During the past several years he has headed the corrections department and won a national jail adminstration award in 2008.

Frey recently ran into some controversy when it was discovered (here) that he was "triple-dipping" on the state system and was pulling in a total of $320,000 a year even though he was often traveling and working special details like the Super Bowl. Click here to read about that.

180 comment(s) / Post a Comment Justin says:

Wheeler is a political hack who should be terminated due to his ties to Rothstein - end of story. Unfortunately, Lamberti's hands are tied due to Wheeler's relationship with the Governor. What a sad state of affairs.

Wheeler has declined to answer the Sun Sentinel's questions about the trips and his relationship with Rothstein, who is now in federal detention.

Wheeler's boss, Sheriff Al Lamberti, said earlier this month that he'd investigate but appears to be backing off that statement. In a recent interview, Lamberti bristled at the suggestion that he might be going easy on his subordinate because of Wheeler's connections to the governor.

"Nobody is bigger than the agency, not even me," Lamberti said. "You step over the line, I'm not going to tolerate it."

Yet the sheriff has been slow to investigate Wheeler, who flew with Rothstein to attend Miami Dolphins and University of Florida football games in 2008.

It was only after the Sun Sentinel showed the sheriff a photograph of Wheeler in a plane with Rothstein that Lamberti said he would look into it.

"Things have been brought to my attention that have required me to initiate a BSO internal affairs investigation, and that investigation is under way," Lamberti said Jan. 4.

In his interview last week, though, Lamberti acknowledged that no investigation has begun and said he's not sure there is a need for one.

At issue is whether Wheeler accepted free travel from Rothstein or a Rothstein associate and failed to report it. According to the Florida Commission on Ethics, the Sheriff's Office lists Wheeler as an employee required to disclose his finances, so he must also report any gifts he has received that are worth more than $100. Wheeler has not reported receiving any gifts.

Lamberti, though, now says that the Sheriff's Office may have gone overboard by including Wheeler on the list of employees required to make financial disclosures and that the gift-reporting requirement may not apply to him.

"Right now, it's not clear," the sheriff said, adding that "I think people are being unfair to Tom Wheeler."

One thing is abundantly clear, Lamberti has no backbone. It is one thing to get appointed sheriff and then win the office with the help of stolen money but it is another to put forward a front that says "Pride in Service With Integrity" when this is an obvious lie. If your highly experienced #2 is above policy and state laws, then you should just resign. Let Crist appoint some PIKE to the post so it will be readily obvious to us all that The Sheriff is nothing but a double-talking, political hack. Stand up Lamberti or go down with the ship.

Looks like the sheriff FORGOT about poor Tommy Wheeler bring Eddify into the Sheriff' office. A company SR had ownership in?
Looks like the sheriff FORGOT about poor Tommy Wheeler going to the Football games in Miami with SR?
Looks like the sheriff FORGOT to ask poor Tommy Wheeler to PRODUCE the reciepts for the airline ticket, hotel, meals, etc for his TWO trips to Ireland paid in full by SR?
Looks like the sheriff FORGOT about poor Tommy Wheeler going to Tallahassee on the other guys private jet.
Looks like the sheriff FORGOT about poor Tommy Wheeler buying with BSO funds a NEW TAHOE.


Looks like we should all just forgot any of this happened. No sense in getting upset right? We dont want to be unfair to poor Tommy Wheeler.