NBC2 has learned exclusively that what appears to be Sheriff Carmine Marceno’s agency-issued rifle was given to a friend of his, and that gun is now part of a federal probe the FBI is conducting against the sheriff.
NBC2 was shown pictures of what was said to be the sheriff's A-R style rifle and was told it was given as a gift to one of those contract employees hired by the sheriff, first reported on back in September.
Sources say the rifle is now part of an FBI investigation against the sheriff, which reportedly began back in May.
A picture of the gun was first shown to NBC2 and to confirm its existence the person holding it for safekeeping showed it to reporter Dave Elias.
After seeing the gun, NBC2 traced the serial number through an FDLE website and discovered it was never reported stolen.
NBC2 reached out to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office for an explanation.
Spokeswoman Anita Iriarte said the office does not engrave weapons although it appears to have been the sheriff’s decal on the gun.
“This is not an agency weapon. A check of our records show that it is not listed on agency inventory. The serial number is not in our system,” Iriarte said.
But the office did not say if the gun was ever in the county's inventory. We've made a special public records request for that.
The news comes after allegations of money laundering by Marceno. A former LCSO consultant claims he was part of a kickback scheme orchestrated by the sheriff.
On Tuesday the man who controls the county's purse strings, Kevin Karnes warned county commissioners in a letter obtained by NBC2 that because of the alleged fraud allegations within the sheriff’s office he felt compelled to notify commissioners of financial risk or risks the county may face.
No one connected to the sheriff's office, the county or the FBI is willing to talk on the record just yet.
The sheriff’s private attorney, Donald Day, has not made any official comment on any of the allegations.
We have reached out to county commissioners but none of them were willing to go on the record with a comment to any of these latest allegations.
That county’s annual audit was already underway when we first reported back in September allegations of fraud in the sheriff's office.
Auditors are now saying the county needs to look into these allegations. A meeting on the issue was held and no decision was made so Kevin Karnes publicly warned of possible financial problems .
