Suspend Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony’s certification for 6 months, FDLE recommends

Lisa J. Huriash, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
·3 min read
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Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony has broken “public trust” by being untruthful about his past on driver’s license application forms — and should get his law enforcement certification suspended for a half-year, an attorney with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement recommends in a pending state ethics case.

“The position of an officer is one of great public trust and the Respondent’s calculated actions have broken that trust,” wrote Andrew Digby, assistant general counsel for FDLE, wrote in a recommended order filed in court records Monday for an administrative judge’s consideration. “There can be no more basic public expectation than that those who enforce the laws must themselves obey the law.”

Digby also recommends that the sheriff take an ethics class.

Administrative Law Judge Robert Kilbride has yet to rule on the case, where Tony defended himself against accusations from the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission that he withheld information to receive a Florida driver’s license repeatedly between 2007 and 2019.

A Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigator said Tony “was untruthful in his answers” to questions when he visited a driver’s license office in Lauderdale Lakes to obtain a replacement license while he was sheriff in 2019, but Tony testified he had been attesting at the time of his application “to what’s in front of” him, such as his biographical information.

“The offense of falsifying information on a driver license application is an act involving moral turpitude,” Digby wrote. Digby wrote that Tony, as the sheriff, emphasizing the word in his filing, “is inherently held to a higher standard due to his position being one of great power within the community.”

The FDLE recommends a six-month suspension of his certification, followed by one year of probation, with the requirement he complete a Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission-approved ethics training.

On Tuesday, Tony’s lawyers filed their own recommended order, asking the judge dismiss the case.

They wrote in their 18-page document filed in court records that “one cannot conclude that the Respondent did unlawfully and knowingly make a false statement, knowingly conceal a material fact, or otherwise commit fraud in the applications. …”

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State investigators wrote that in 1999 Tony correctly answered “yes” on forms when asked if his driving privilege had ever been revoked, suspended or denied in any other state. But between March 2002 and February 2019, he submitted 11 applications, and on eight of them, he answered “no.”

Authorities said his license had been suspended in 1993 for failure to appear for trial or court appearance and in January 1998 for five separate cases of failure to appear for trial or court appearance.

Ethics issue

A second case that delves into Tony’s past is still pending.

In 2022, the Florida Commission on Ethics said it has found probable cause to pursue a case into Tony’s lies and omissions on forms that led him to his first cop job in Coral Springs, and ultimately rise to sheriff. One ethics commission member argued if the commission didn’t take action, it would set a precedent for others to lie in applications to “do whatever you gotta do to get the position.” Another member called his behavior “despicable.”

His defense attorney has previously said Tony “looks forward to a swift finding of innocence.”

The end result could potentially be a recommendation that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspend him.

That hearing is scheduled for June.

Lisa J. Huriash can be reached at lhuriash@sunsentinel.com. Follow on X, formerly Twitter, @LisaHuriash