A lying sheriff is a true test for voters | Editorial

The public trust takes another serious hit in Broward, this time in the sheriff's office. What say you, Gov. Ron DeSantis?

It is not asking too much to expect Broward County’s chief law enforcement officer to tell the truth.

But Sheriff Gregory Tony, arguably the county’s most powerful political figure, flunked that basic test. In the words of a state administrative law judge, he has “failed to maintain good moral character.”

In his 31-page order issued Monday, Judge Robert Kilbride found that Tony broke the law by falsely claiming that his driver’s license had never been suspended by another state when in fact it had — in Pennsylvania in 1998.

Lying on a driver license application is a third-degree felony in Florida, but Tony has not been charged with a crime. He’s still Broward sheriff, is running for reelection, and faces three lesser-known challengers in the countywide Democratic primary on Aug. 20.

It all began in Broward

Of all the lies and omissions that have propelled the sheriff’s law enforcement career, the one that landed Tony in deep trouble happened on Feb. 1, 2019, less than a month after he was appointed sheriff by Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Tony gave “untruthful” answers to a driver’s license examiner at a state office in Lauderdale Lakes — a city patrolled by the sheriff’s office.

He also lied on that same question four other times, Kilbride wrote, but there was ambiguity as to whether he was required to answer the question in an online license application.

“Any felony offense, including the knowing falsification of information on a driver license application, is defined by the rule as failing to maintain good moral character,” the judge wrote.

The judge called for Tony to be reprimanded, placed on probationary status for 18 months, and to complete ethics training — not exactly what candidates want to hear about on the campaign trail.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission, which brought the case against Tony, now will decide whether to accept the recommendation.

Time for accountability

Tony should have the good sense to remove his tarnished badge and resign.

That would, at least, show that he truly believes in the high standards and accountability that he demands from everyone else under his command at BSO and to be a positive role model, especially for young people.

Absent that, DeSantis should suspend Tony from office. We editorialized in support of such action nearly two years ago after the Commission on Ethics found probable cause that the sheriff had lied on official documents. The governor has punished others for a lot less.

DeSantis last summer suspended Monique Worrell, the elected state attorney for Orange and Osceola counties, for “neglect of duty” for allegedly refusing to prosecute criminal cases.

This governor has abused the suspension tool by removing two elected prosecutors and four elected members of the Broward County School Board, none of whom were found to have broken the law as Tony has.

If DeSantis refuses to act against Tony, it would be a huge slap in the face to FDLE, the statewide law enforcement agency under his command. FDLE brought the charges against Tony.

But DeSantis doesn’t like to admit mistakes, and the appointment of Tony was a whopper, a rush job with little or no serious vetting.

Suspending Tony now would be an outright admission by DeSantis that he never should have appointed Tony to replace former Sheriff Scott Israel, who was suspended by DeSantis over the agency’s response to the Parkland shooting in 2018.

The evidence that Tony lied is even more troubling because he has made accountability a top priority at BSO, the state’s largest law enforcement agency run by an elected sheriff.

“I pledge as sheriff,” he wrote in 2020, “to continue to work with our communities and hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism and accountability.”

It’s likely that Broward voters will decide whether Tony’s lies warrant his removal. It’s up to Tony’s rivals — Steve Geller, David Howard and Alvin Pollock — to make that case in the coming three months.

Tony also unwittingly underscored his own bad behavior online. In a week-old Instagram video, he is shown jumping rope and working out, and the text says: “You are what you repeatedly do.”

‘Great public trust’

As Judge Kilbride summed up the case: “(Tony), as Sheriff of Broward County, is held to a high standard since his position is one of considerable authority within the community. There can be no doubt that (his) position as a law enforcement officer and Sheriff is also one of great public trust. (Tony’s) action on February 1, 2019, regrettably, has damaged that trust. A basic public expectation of those who serve the public and enforce the laws is that they must obey the law.”

The vast majority of people who work for the Broward Sheriff’s Office are honest, dedicated professionals. We rely on them to tell the truth every day on police reports and in court. Sheriff Tony should be held to an even higher standard, and he has failed miserably.

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Opinion Editor Dan Sweeney, editorial writer Martin Dyckman and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Editorials are the opinion of the Board and written by one of its members or a designee. To contact us, email at letters@sun-sentinel.com.