State confirms wider investigation into Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Florida’s top law enforcement agency confirmed Tuesday that it is investigating Broward County Sheriff Gregory Tony over a wider range of issues than it acknowledged six months ago.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said in May that it was conducting a “preliminary investigation” into allegations that Tony lied on an affidavit to become sheriff.

Now, in a court document filed Tuesday, an FDLE inspector reveals that the investigation also involves “other undisclosed matters that will remain confidential.”

Inspector Keith Riddick did not elaborate in his affidavit, except to call the investigation “open and active.”

Riddick’s affidavit was filed in connection with a lawsuit filed by four former candidates in the sheriff’s election: H. Wayne Clark, Al Pollock, Santiago Vazquez Jr. and Charles Whatley. They allege that Tony is ineligible to serve as sheriff because he has a criminal past.

The lawsuit, filed in October, included no documents proving that Tony had a criminal record. It cited only “conversations with authorities from Philadelphia.”

Tony’s attorney, Mike Moskowitz, could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening. He stressed earlier that the lawsuit against his client includes no evidence of crimes.

Tony has admitted that he shot an 18-year-old man to death in 1990, when he was 14 years old and living in a crime-ridden neighborhood in Philadelphia. But he said he acted in self-defense and was found not guilty in court.

However, Pennsylvania courts and police have refused to release records detailing the case, and Tony did not disclose the killing when screened to become sheriff in January 2019. In a sworn affidavit, he stated that he had never had a criminal record sealed or expunged.

Tony not only withheld the information from the FDLE, he never revealed it when he applied earlier for his first cop’s job with the Coral Springs Police Department.

Coral Springs police made Tony fill out a questionnaire and undergo a voice stress test in 2005. He answered “no” to several questions that would have revealed that he had once killed a man, according to police records.

In preparation for his voice stress test, Tony replied “no” to a handful of questions, including:

Had law enforcement ever been called because of something he was involved in?

Had he ever caused the death of another person?

Had he ever been in a fight that involved a weapon?

Had law enforcement ever questioned him as a suspect in an investigation?

Had he ever been arrested or charged, even if the charges were dropped, sealed or expunged or he was found not guilty?

Tony also has come under fire for working for a company that won a $750,000 bid last summer to provide schools with emergency kits to treat gunshot victims.

Tony worked for North American Rescue LLC in South Carolina starting in 2016, when he left his job at the Coral Springs Police Department. At the same time, he was running Blue Spear Solutions, an active-shooter training company he founded with his wife the year before.

The CEO of North American Rescue, Bob Castellani, made a $5,000 contribution to Tony’s political action committee, Broward First, weeks after winning the bleed kit contract.

The FDLE affidavit makes no reference to the bleed kits. It does say the agency has requested court and arrest records from Philadelphia related to Tony. Subpoenas were issued in May and September through the Broward State Attorney’s Office, which declined to comment Tuesday.

FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said the agency continues to wait for documents.

Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Tony as sheriff in January 2019 to replace Sheriff Scott Israel, whom DeSantis removed from office for failures during mass shootings at Fort-Lauderdale Hollywood International Airport and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.

The appointment, pushed by a number of Parkland parents, came after an exceedingly speedy check into Tony’s background.

The governor’s office requested that state investigators conduct a background check on Tony on Jan. 10, 2019, one day before Tony was appointed to the post.

Although the governor at the time was enthusiastic about his pick, he eventually distanced himself from Tony, telling reporters in Tallahassee: “It’s not like he’s my sheriff. I didn’t even know the guy. It was not like he was a political ally of mine.”

———

©2020 Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.)

Visit the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at www.sun-sentinel.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.