FORT MYERS, Fla. – An ethics complaint was submitted Tuesday to the Florida Commission on Ethics against Sheriff Carmine Marceno after he failed to report the $600,000 cash purchase of his Sarasota condominium just days before filing his required financial disclosures as an elected official.
The complaint was filed by Mike Hollow, a retired veteran of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, who served for nearly two decades as a robbery and homicide detective, K-9 handler and commander of Internal Affairs. Hollow is now running as an independent write-in candidate against Marceno in the upcoming November election.
According to yourobserver.com, a Sarasota, Florida-based media outlet, Marceno purchased Unit 505, a 733 square-foot, 1-bedroom, 1-bath condominium located at 1500 State Street in Sarasota in May of this year. A further review of Zillow, MLS and public records confirm that Marceno’s purchase was finalized on May 24 of 2024.
On May 30th, Marceno filed his “Form 6” with the Florida Commission on Ethics where he declared the total of all his “residential” assets as $900,000. The problem with this reporting declaration is that his residence in Lee County is valued at over $700,000, while his new Sarasota residence is valued at $600,000. Accordingly, his total real estate asset value should be listed at $1.3 million, which is $400,000 more, or nearly 50 percent greater, than his reported asset value.
“Besides the obvious failure to disclose his actual financial status, I cannot be the only person wondering how Carmine is able to afford the multiple properties, Lamborghinis and Ferraris as a public servant. This is particularly damning for an individual who is already under criminal investigation for money laundering,” Hollow said. “I also find it exceedingly difficult to believe that Carmine simply forgot to include the property he just purchased for $600,000 in cash just a couple of days before he filed his financial disclosures.”
News of the ethics complaint comes just days after Southwest Florida media outlets reported that Marceno is the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation for allegations of money laundering after audio recordings were released of a whistleblower honorary deputy admitting to having helped Marceno embezzle money to pay for a car belonging to Marceno’s father.
“In all my years of law enforcement, I have never seen a more disgraceful sheriff who has been plagued by so many scandals. It is beyond time for Carmine to be removed as Sheriff and for him to drop out of his bid for re-election,” said Hollow. “Meanwhile the citizens of Lee County are desperate for more front-line workers to speed up response times, more traffic enforcement, less TikTok, and a stronger steward of public money.”
About Mike Hollow:
Mike Hollow began his law enforcement career as a Boston Police officer in the mid 2000s. After joining the Lee County Sheriff’s Office about 17 years ago as a sheriff’s deputy, he rose through the ranks from a patrol officer and K-9 patrol officer to a robbery and homicide detective with the Lee County Major Crimes unit. He later worked as the Commander of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Internal Affairs department, then as a Watch Commander for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office Aviation Unit. He holds a Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice with a concentration in Public Administration.
