Embattled Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno has been captured in video recordings accepting a stack of cash from the same “ghost employee” who has claimed the two men were involved in a kickback scheme involving sheriff’s office funds paid to Marceno’s father.
The video shows Marceno receiving what appears to be a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills from jeweler Ken Romano, who is said to be cooperating in an FBI investigation of the sheriff.
In the video, Romano, at right, can be seen handing Marceno the stack of cash.
The video, which includes two camera angles, was posted on social media by sheriff’s candidate Mike Hollow, a former K9 officer and internal affairs commander with LCSO. Hollow told the Florida Trident he obtained the video directly from Romano and the transaction occurred in June of this year, a month after he accompanied the jeweler to the FBI with allegations against Marceno related to a consulting agreement Romano had with the sheriff’s office in 2022.
Romano and Marceno were in talks to renew Romano’s consulting contract with LCSO at the time of the video-recorded cash exchange in June, said Hollow. Romano didn’t provide the exact reason for the cash exchange, he said.
Romano, when contacted on the phone today at his store on Bonita Beach Road, told the Trident he wasn’t able to talk about the video or anything else having to do with the investigation.
“I really can’t talk about it right now, I’m sorry,” Romano said. “I hope you understand. Believe me I want to, and when I do you’ll be the first person I call. You can quote me on that.”
An emailed request to the sheriff’s office for an interview with Marceno that contained specific questions about the newly surfaced video was denied.