The whistleblower who alerted the FBI that he was part of an alleged kickback scheme with Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno is now the focus of a state investigation.
Ken Romano, a longtime friend and consultant of the sheriff, blew the whistle on Marceno, and now Romano is accused of stalking.
The matter now has the attention of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who got involved after state Attorney Amira Fox asked him to. According to an executive order from the governor, Fox said she did not want to be part of the investigation against Romano since he made allegations about the sheriff.
Romano said in a recorded interview that every month, he would give Marceno’s father cash at the request of the sheriff.
Romano had a contract with the sheriff who was paying him $5,700 a month in taxpayer money, and Romano said he was providing next to nothing in return but said he was instructed to return $1,700 of the money to Marceno’s father to pay for a car the sheriff bought him.
“I gave him tons and tons of jewelry. His grandmother, you know, a $40,000 ring. I did a lot of good things for him,” Romano said in the recording that was turned over to the FBI for investigation.
NBC2 first reported back in September that Marceno was the focus of an FBI investigation. At that time, the sheriff called the claims political, as he was in the middle of an election, which he won handily against write-in candidate Mike Hollow.
Hollow said that he and Romano were visited by the FBI last May. Marceno remained quiet for months about the allegations, but last week, during a prerecorded state of the agency address, he admitted that the FBI requested documents.
“We supplied the documents,” Marceno admitted. However, he did not expand on the matter. NBC2 confirmed a subpoena was issued for documents pertaining to the sheriff’s home and office.
A grand jury in December began hearing evidence the FBI had collected against Marceno.
The governor’s executive order says Romano is now under investigation for allegations of aggravated stalking.
The order also says Fox disqualified her office from prosecuting the case, claiming a conflict of interest or the appearance of impropriety.
NBC2 obtained an email from the woman who filed a report against him. She now says in an email obtained by NBC2 that she is no longer cooperating in the investigation and she does not want to be used as a witness.
Given the developments, it's unclear if an investigation against Romano will proceed after the alleged victim said she will not cooperate.
There is still no word from the grand jury hearing the case against the sheriff.
