F B ive days after Hurricane Ian made landfall on Florida’s southwest coast, Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno held a press briefing in which he all but encouraged people to maim or kill looters in his storm-ravaged community. “If someone makes that grave mistake and they choose to loot, they might be able to walk into someone’s home... But they will be carried out,” Marceno said October 3. He added: “I ain’t playing games. We aren’t playing games.” Marceno later released the name and personal information of a 14-year-old looting suspect, among other arrestees. On October 12, he posted a Hurricane Ian video montage, which ends with a string of mugshots of post-storm arrests, capped off with the phrase “oxygen stealer,” his favorite moniker for suspected criminals. Though Marceno’s antics might seem unusual, those fa- miliar with the sheriff know it’s all in step with his tough-talk- ing persona. Long before he was thrust into the national spotlight in Hurricane Ian’s aftermath, Marceno was using an official Lee County social media page to post self-aggrandiz- ing TikTok videos, at least one of which features him emerg- ing from a dense fog while brandishing an assault rifle. During police raids, Marceno can be seen hammering down yard signs with his image in the front of suspected drug dens, while proclaiming, “This drug house is closed. We’re cleaning up the real estate here.” His mode of transporting suspects is somewhat unconven- tional as well: he has a paddywagon with the words “Marceno Motel” printed on the back of it — his catchphrase for a local jail. Made-for-television segments are often posted on the Lee County Sheriff’s Office social media pages, in which Mar- ceno references the “Marceno Motel” and reveals the county jail’s latest “guests” and their respective charges. (Marceno’s vehicle collection also features an official sheriff’s office ice cream truck, which is emblazoned with a huge graphic print of him surrounded by smiling kids.) While many Lee County residents support Marceno’s stunts and praise him for his hands-on work in the disaster zone, oth- ers claim that he is engaged in law enforcement propagandism. It has been hard at times to extricate his theatrical TikTok persona from the man who is delivering heart-rending up- dates to a community devastated by one of the worst natural disasters to afflict Florida in modern history. After declining an interview request, Marceno issued a statement to New Times, saying, “I have zero tolerance for looters and others who prey on our residents during these very difficult times.” He continued: “As the chief law enforcement officer in Lee County, my greatest obligation is to provide safety and security for our great residents, especially during a state of emergency.” “Feel free to move to Portland or Seattle. We don’t want you here.” orn in the Bronx and raised on Long Island, Marceno graduated from a New York police academy in 1997 and began working part-time as a police officer with the Suffolk County Department of Parks the following year. He moved to southwest Florida in the late 1990s and joined the Naples Police Department in November 1999. Records obtained by New Times show he failed two at- tempts at the state officer certification exam — taken in June and July 2000. He stepped away from the Naples Police De- partment in August 2000 and returned to New York. Though his time as a Naples officer was brief, he received commenda- tions for his friendly demeanor with the public, and an inci- dent in which he helped fellow emergency responders revive a patient in cardiac arrest. After a few years hiatus from the Sunshine State, Marceno returned to Florida law enforcement in 2003, joining the Col- lier County Sheriff’s Office. In a series of job interviews, the Collier County Sheriff’s Office learned that Marceno had taken an illegal steroid regi- men at the age of 18. According to a job interview report, he also engaged in his own juvenile acts of theft: stealing food from a grocery store where he worked around age 16 and shoplifting candy as a 10-year-old boy. Screenshots via TikTok / Lee County Sheriff’s Office Sheriff’s Office in 2018. “The [grand theft case] I reported was, for him, an opportunity to have a relationship,” Williams said in a 2019 interview with the Guardian. “He abused his position.” Williams filed a paternity lawsuit against Marceno in No- vember 2018, claiming he was the father of her unborn child and tried to pressure her to have an abortion. In a formal com- plaint filed with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), she alleged that he threatened her during her preg- nancy. She reported to FDLE that she and her family started receiving terrifying calls during the dispute, including one in which an unknown female caller told her she needed to “have her throat slit and face slashed.” Marceno denied these allegations. FDLE reviewed Williams’ case and found insufficient grounds for a criminal probe into Marceno. Text messages between the pair showed no threats by Marceno; in one message, he says, “I have lived my entire life helping people and never hurt anyone.” In the 2020 Lee County Sheriff’s election, Marceno locked up celebrity endorsements from rock star Ted Nu- gent and NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal. Jim Williams, a chief of investigations with the Collier Sheriff’s Office, told News Press that Marceno was a “natural leader” and de- served to retain his Lee County post. Sean Hannity, who Sheriff Carmine Marceno’s TikTok and official Lee County web page reflect what appears to be a voracious appetite for the spotlight. defended his treatment of the 10-year-old and called for a return to what he describes as “old-school” child-rearing practices. “When I was a kid, the nun hit you with a wooden ruler. You understood what was right and wrong,” Marceno said. In the wake of the Uvalde shooting — and in the midst of the controversy over his publicizing the perp walk of a 10-year-old boy — Marceno planted his foot firmly the arena of hardline politics. “To the great citizens of Lee County... unfortunately, the tragic events in Texas and other parts of the country have un- leashed renewed attempts by President Biden — sleepy Joe Biden and his extremist followers — to advance their political agenda,” Marceno said, standing near a desk decorated with a blue NYPD hat and folded American flags. “I’ve made my stance clear on our Second Amendment rights. And unlike the president, I believe it’s absolute.” The sheriff rejected calls for gun law reform, saying a lack of mental health resources and the “moral decay of America” were to blame for increasing violent crime. >> p8 77 Marceno secured a job with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office despite the interview report finding that his use of ille- gal steroids as a young man automatically disqualified him from further job consideration pursuant to the department’s strict drug policy. The New York native worked for the Collier County Sher- iff’s Office for more than ten years and received the county’s Distinguished Public Servant Award in 2012. He joined the Lee County Sheriff’s Office as a lieutenant on June 28, 2013, records show, where he rose through the ranks to an undersheriff position. When Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott retired in 2018 after 30 years on the force, Marceno was selected by then-Governor Rick Scott to fill the position. While Marceno was gaining a following with his hard-on- crime rhetoric and his moniker as Florida’s “Law and Order” sheriff, he faced a messy paternity scandal involving local resi- dent Deanna Williams, which was reported by Fox 4, among other outlets. Williams and Marceno had a brief relationship while she was pursuing a grand theft case with the Lee County owned a multimillion-dollar mansion in the Naples area where Marceno once worked, backed Marceno as well, call- ing him a good friend. Detractors claimed Marceno lacked command experience and that his background in community policing was inade- quate to justify his position at the helm of a sheriff’s office in a county of more than 750,000 residents. Marceno prevailed in the 2020 race, and his status as a lo- cal celebrity only grew from there. His public statements took on a more political tone as he continued building his brand as a hardline conservative gunslinger in the vein of former Mari- copa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. In June 2022, the sheriff made headlines across the nation when he posted a video and personal information of a hand- cuffed 10-year-old boy. The kid had been arrested for sending out a text message with pictures he had pulled off the internet of cash and rifles. (Though his parents claimed it was a botched joke, the boy was charged for allegedly making a threat to his school via the text, which he sent days after the Uvalde, Texas, mass shooting. ) In an interview with Steve Doocy on Fox News, Marceno miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | miaminewtimes.com | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | MIAMI NEW TIMES NEW TIMES OCTOBER 27-NOVEMBER 2, 2022 MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008
