{"id":60108,"date":"2024-10-08T15:01:56","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T19:01:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=60108"},"modified":"2024-10-08T15:02:02","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T19:02:02","slug":"a-receipt-shows-sheriff-marceno-received-9000-piano-from-the-same-lcso-ghost-employee-alleging-a-kickback-scheme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2024\/10\/a-receipt-shows-sheriff-marceno-received-9000-piano-from-the-same-lcso-ghost-employee-alleging-a-kickback-scheme\/","title":{"rendered":"A receipt shows Sheriff Marceno received $9,000 piano from the same LCSO \u201cghost employee\u201d alleging a kickback scheme"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Bob Norman<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Roland digital piano model that\u2019s listed on a receipt naming Lee County Sheriff Carmine<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, jeweler Ken Romano was more than a close friend and gambling buddy \u2013 he was a \u201cbrother.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy brother Kenny,\u201d Marceno wrote on a campaign poster for Romano that\u2019s framed on the wall of his jewelry store in Bonita Springs. \u201cThank you for all you do! You are the Best!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Romano, it\u2019s true \u2013 he did a lot for the sheriff. In an audio recording Romano claimed Marceno owes him a quarter million dollars after he paid off gambling debts for the sheriff and gave him expensive gifts, including a $40,000 ring for Marceno\u2019s late grandmother. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sheriff can be seen on a surveillance video <\/a>accepting a large stack of cash from Romano inside his store, K & M Fine Jewelry on Bonita Springs Road. Romano has provided no explanation of what the cash was for, but Marceno\u2019s attorney, Donald Day, said it was part of a \u201clegitimate transaction.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n

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Now comes alleged proof of one of those gifts. The Florida Trident has obtained a receipt <\/a>showing Romano gave the sheriff a digital Roland grand piano at a tax-included cost of $9,035. The receipt shows Romano purchased the piano at Jay and Kay\u2019s Organ and Piano Co. in Fort Myers on May 11, 2020, two years into Marceno\u2019s tenure as sheriff, and had it delivered to Marceno\u2019s home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

State ethics laws require elected officials like Marceno to disclose all gifts valued at $100 or more. There is no mention of the piano, or of any other gifts, in any of his financial disclosure forms. The sheriff rejected an interview request to specifically discuss the piano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese are obviously politically motivated issues not related to the Lee County Sheriff\u2019s Office,\u201d Public Affairs Capt. Anita Iriarte wrote. \u201cAn attorney on behalf of Carmine Marceno will contact you. The sheriff\u2019s campaign will also be advised of your questions.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sheriff\u2019s attorney, Day, didn\u2019t contact the Trident or return a message left at his office regarding the piano. <\/p>\n\n\n

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It\u2019s the latest revelation in the Marceno scandal, which is rooted in a \u201cno work\u201d $5,700-a-month consulting contract Romano inked with LCSO in 2022. Romano alleged in the audio \u2013 which was recorded with retired LCSO veteran Mike Hollow \u2013 that Marceno instructed him to pay $1,700 per month in cash to his father, Carmine Marceno Sr., towards payments on a Mercedes Benz. The contract was terminated after six months when the sheriff\u2019s office learned Romano was under investigation by another agency. The nature of that investigation is unknown. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hollow, who is running against Marceno as a write-in candidate and whose campaign provided the receipt and surveillance video showing the sheriff accepting the cash in the jewelry store, accompanied Romano to the FBI in May to file a criminal complaint against the sheriff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Romano, while cooperating with the FBI, then began negotiating with Marceno to regain his $5,700-a-month consulting contract and also recorded the sheriff accepting a large stack of cash from him in his jewelry store. The status of the federal investigation \u2013 which Hollow said has included FBI-controlled phone calls between Romano and the sheriff \u2013 isn\u2019t known. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a previous interview, attorney Day declined to provide specific answers regarding Romano\u2019s allegations, saying that Marceno wouldn\u2019t divulge details of his relationship while under the shadow of an alleged FBI investigation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bob Norman The Roland digital piano model that\u2019s listed on a receipt naming Lee County Sheriff Carmine For Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, jeweler Ken Romano was more than a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":60109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,32],"tags":[2836,2835],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60108"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60111,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60108\/revisions\/60111"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}