By Dan Christensen, FloridaBulldog.org
Fortune is smiling again on Broward Sheriff “Dr.” Gregory Tony.
A pair of pending disciplinary cases against him set to be embarrassingly aired and/or decided before Tuesday’s all important Democratic primary election has been postponed under curious circumstances.
And if campaign dollars are a reliable measure, the controversial Tony appears nevertheless on his way to an easy re-election.
Election records show Tony’s campaign has significantly outraised and outspent each of his four opponents while his supposedly “independent” political committee – Broward First – has spent another $580,000 or so to boost Tony’s candidacy – most notably a direct mail blitz costing about $225,000 in the first two weeks of August. (That doesn’t count the $50,000 Tony directed Broward First recently to contribute to help elect his pal, James Reyes, as Miami-Dade sheriff.)
Thousands of ballots have already been cast by those who vote early or by mail, according to the Broward Supervisor of Elections office. So neither they nor those who vote Tuesday will have the benefit of knowing whether Tony’s license to be a police officer will be revoked by the state’s Criminal Justice Standards & Training Commission (CJSTC) for repeatedly lying under oath when applying for a Florida driver’s license – or the outcome of the Florida Commission on Ethics broader and more serious findings of wrongdoing by Tony.
An administrative law judge who reviewed the CJSTC’s case against Tony in May found he had violated the minimum qualifications to be a cop by failing to maintain “good moral character,” but issued a non-binding recommendation that Tony receive a written reprimand, an 18-month probationary period and be required to complete ethics training.
CASES DELAYED
Aug. 7 was supposed to have been the day that another Tallahassee administrative law judge, June McKinney, would hear the ethics commission’s 2022 case against Tony to include its determination that probable cause exists to believe Tony:
- “Provided false information and/or did not disclose information concerning his drug use history and an arrest for homicide” before Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed him as sheriff in January 2019.
- One year later, while serving as sheriff, Tony falsely certified to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement that he had never had a criminal record sealed or expunged. His Pennsylvania murder case is sealed.
- Before he was hired by the Coral Springs Police Department in 2005, Tony “provided false information and/or did not disclose information concerning his traffic citation history, his drug use history, his arrest history, and whether he had previously applied for a law enforcement position.”
- While serving as a law enforcement officer in 2005, 2007, 2013 and 2019 Tony “falsely indicated” in applications to renew his driver’s license that his driving privileges had never been revoked, suspended or denied by any state.
But that early August hearing date has now been rolled back to Oct. 10 by another administrative law judge, John Van Laningham. Van Laningham announced that he’d taken over the case from McKinney in a notice docketed July 1 but provided no reason for it. Judge McKinney did not respond to Florida Bulldog’s requests for comment.
Van Laningham’s Aug. 1 decision was prompted by a request for further delay sought jointly by Tony’s lawyers and ethics commission advocate Melody Hadley. Hadley is in the unusual position of prosecuting Tony even though she previously recommended his case be dismissed for a lack of probable cause. The ethics commission unanimously rejected Hadley’s recommendation.
The two sides sought the postponement, citing the Criminal Justice Standards & Training Commission’s then-pending Aug. 15 hearing.
They wrote, “For judicial efficiency and preservation of resources, the parties request to cancel the hearing for August 7, 2024 and continue the case until the issuance of the final order” by the CJSTC.
What discipline the CJSTC ultimately believes is appropriate for Sheriff “Dr.” Tony won’t be known until at least Oct. 31. That’s the new hearing date that was set after Tony’s case was marked as “removed” from the CJSTC’s agenda during its three-day quarterly meeting at the Sawgrass Marriott Golf Resort & Spa in Ponte Vedra Beach.
Florida Bulldog wanted to know why the date was changed. Phone messages left at offices of the commission’s lawyers, Kate Holmes and Andy Digby, were not returned.
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