Wayne Madsen Reports on; Chronister, Debartolo, Bondi, Judge Coe and Hillsborough's public corruption - 1 of 3

[Snitches Get Stitches]

From: Mike Cartwright
Sent: Saturday, April 18, 2026
To: Michael Cartwright
Subject: Wayne Madsen Reports on; Chronister, Debartolo, Bondi, Judge Coe and Hillsborough's public corruption.

Wayne Madsen Reports on; Chronister, Debartolo, Bondi, Judge Coe and Hillsborough's public corruption.
Here below is some important excerpts of Investigative Journalist's - Wayne Madsen's Reporting about; HCSO Sheriff Chronister,
HCSO ex-Sheriff David Gee, past convicted felon Eddie Debartolo Jr, past Florida Attorney Pam Bondi, deceased HC SAO Judge Hanging
Harry Lee Coe, and some of Hillsborough County's long time public corruption involving child/human sex trafficking and Tampa's
organized crime mafia.

"As assistant state attorney for Hillsborough County in 2010, Bondi had the opportunity to clean up what was known to many
residents of the county as a historically corrupt state attorney’s office. The corruption became widely known during the term of
the Brooklyn-born state attorney, Republican Harry Lee Coe, who was elected in 1992. Coe, like Bondi, received his law degree from
Stetson University. Amid charges that Coe, known as “Hangin’ Harry” from his time as a tough and outwardly racist Florida circuit
judge, was on the take from organized crime interests in Hillsborough County, he was found shot to death in Tampa on July 13,
2000. Authorities ruled the death a suicide, although several informed sources believed that Coe was a threat to various vested
interests in Florida, up to and including the Governor, Jeb Bush. WFLA-TV news reporter Steve Andrews had aired a report detailing
Coe’s corruption shortly before Coe’s death. It was actually Andrews who discovered Coe’s body near his apartment complex. Andrews
was part of a media crew anxious to ask Coe about reports of his gambling debts and financial records tampering."

"The mafia underpinnings of criminal justice and law enforcement in Tampa and Hillsborough County have been reinforced by current
Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister, who happens to be married to Nicole DeBartolo, the daughter of former San Francisco
49ers owner Edward DeBartolo, Jr. In 2015, Chronister and Nicole were wed in an “Italian-themed” wedding in the playground for
billionaires, Palm Beach. In his 2018 campaign for sheriff, Chronister received at least $138,000 of his total of $1 million in
campaign donations from his wife and her parents, Eddie Jr. and Cynthia DeBartolo."

"Bondi and her boss made Hillsborough County safe for prostitution, racketeering, and sex trafficking - Coe was succeeded as state
attorney in 2000 by another problematic office holder, Republican Mark Ober. Ober served as state attorney from 2001 to 2016,
after he was defeated by Democrat Andrew Warren, a former federal prosecutor who ran on a platform of reforming the criminal
justice system.

It was through Ober that Bondi, a college sorority girl who graduated from the University of Florida in 1987 and Stetson
University Law School in 1990, was introduced to statewide politics. Stetson, founded as a Baptist college located in DeLand,
Florida, has had, through its Institute for Christian Ethics, guest speakers ranging from porn actor Ron Jeremy to anti-Muslim
neocon polemicist Richard Pipes. Bondi served as assistant state attorney prior to her run for state Attorney General in 2010.
At a February 2018 Florida Cabinet meeting held in Tampa on the first day of the Florida State Fair, a meeting that was attended
by Florida GOP Governor and now U.S. Senator Scott and then-Attorney General Bondi, Ober cited the twice-divorced Bondi for
having “always been a shining star in my life and in my career.”

Also honored at the public Cabinet meeting was Hillsborough County Republican Sheriff David Gee, who surprisingly resigned from
office in September 2017, less than a year after being re-elected to a fourth term. Gee was succeeded on an interim basis by
fellow Republican Chad Chronister, who was appointed to fill Gee’s office by Governor Scott. When he ran for the sheriff position
in 2018, Chronister had amassed a record-setting $1 million campaign war chest, the largest to date for any local candidate in
Hillsborough County. Ironically, $340,675 of Chronister’s donations came from a state political action committee called “Law
Enforcement for Responsible Government.” It is an ironic name for a PAC when considering Chronister’s reputed links to organized
crime. Considering Chronister has had a 27-year career with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office as a state government
employee, it is rather astonishing that he has amassed a net worth of $4.7 million."

"The Tampa Bay Times bemoaned the fact that Hillsborough County had not experienced a truly competitive race for sheriff since
1964, the year The Beatles were introduced to America on The Ed Sullivan Show. The methodology for sheriff races is that the
incumbent throws his support to his subordinate, who then receives the support of the political machine of the
day, thereby ensuring that all the “bodies,” figuratively and literally, remain buried."

"When a reporter for the Tampa Bay Guardian, a truth-telling alternative to the oftentimes dubious reportage of The Tampa Bay
Times, attempted to cover a November 2019 “Friends of Chad Chronister” fundraiser at Tampa restaurant Eddie V’s at which
Chronister’s father-in-law, Ed DeBartolo Jr., and Chronister were present, he got the heave-ho. A GOP operative named Anthony
Pedicini told the reporter, “There’s no media allowed, Bubba . . . You want to come in, you write a check for the event.”
Pedicini is notorious for accusing several GOP primary candidates of being insufficiently pro-Trump. The “muscle” on hand to
dislodge any fundraiser crashers, like inquisitive journalists, were two on-duty Hillsborough County sheriffs. Essentially,
Chronister had his own employees, on government time, enforce entry to his own political fundraiser. This is the sort of
Mafia-Republican political reality that helped launch a GOP thoroughly corrupt bimbo like Pam Bondi into state and national
politics and stands to elevate a mob-linked county sheriff into eventual statewide and, perhaps, national office."

"Chronister has also cemented his ties with some of Florida’s many grifting “mega-churches,” usually a husband and wife operation
– a sort of “Bonnie and Clyde” for Bible thumpers. On January 12, 2020, The River at Tampa Bay Church, a mega-church operation run
by Pastors Rodney and Adonica Howard-Browne held a special Sheriff Appreciation Day for Chronister. The invitation read: “Join us
on Sunday, January 12th, for a special Sheriff Appreciation Day at The Main Event with Pastors Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne and Sheriff Chad Chronister. Bring the whole family for photos
with our local officers. There will be squad cars, helicopters, and free food for everyone! There will also be bounce houses,
cotton candy, and face-painting for the kids!”

"The event appears to have crossed the line since churches, according to IRS laws, are prohibited from campaigning for, or
against, a candidate in any way, either directly or indirectly. Nor can candidates campaign during official church functions."

"South Africa-born Rodney Howard-Browne heads Revival Ministries International, a Charismatic Christian sect."

www.WayneMadsenReport.com
You can reach IJ - Wayne Madsen at,
waynemadsendc@hotmail.com
waynemadsendc@gmail.com
wmadsen777@aol.com
Sincerely,
Mike Cartwright

 

[Snitches Get Stitches]

Wayne Madsen Reports on; Chronister, Debartolo, Bondi, Judge Coe and Hillsborough's public corruption - 2 of 3​

Misconduct cases at Hillsborough sheriff’s office spur culture questions

Academic cheating, domestic violence and a major accused of drinking on duty have rocked the agency.

www.tampabay.com

Misconduct cases at Hillsborough sheriff’s office spur culture questions​

Academic cheating, domestic violence and a major accused of drinking on duty have rocked the agency.

In the last nine months, Sheriff Chad Chronister’s agency has seen six members of its command staff mired in an academic cheating scandal, a string of deputies accused of domestic violence and, earlier this month, a long-tenured major fired after he was found to be drunk on duty.
[JEFFEREE WOO | Times]

By Dan Sullivan Times staff
Published Yesterday | Updated Yesterday

The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has had problems.

In the last nine months, Sheriff Chad Chronister’s agency has seen six members of its command staff mired in an academic cheating
scandal, a string of deputies accused of domestic violence and, earlier this month, a long-tenured major fired after he was found
to be drunk on duty.

Are these repeated troubles indicative of a cultural problem within the agency?

“The answer is no,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

In the wake of the latest dustup, the office insisted that its response to each episode reflects a commitment to high standards
and a willingness to take action when those standards are not met.

“The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office is made up of thousands of dedicated professionals who serve this community with
integrity every day,” the statement read. ”The actions of a few individuals do not define this organization. What does define us
is our willingness to confront misconduct directly and ensure accountability at every level.”

A major resigns​

A screenshot of a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office Facebook post on Feb. 18 shows Maj. Troy Morgan, left, and Sheriff Chad
Chronister during a promotion ceremony that day. [ Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office via Facebook ]

The latest incident to draw unflattering attention to the sheriff’s office involved a member of Chronister’s command staff who was
found to be under the influence of alcohol while on duty.

Troy Morgan had been promoted to the rank of major in February. He oversaw the newly created Traffic Services Division, which
includes DUI enforcement and traffic crash investigators.

A sheriff’s office veteran, Morgan was once honored as the Florida Mothers Against Drunk Driving Deputy of the Year.

The sheriff’s office declined to provide any more details about the circumstances preceding Morgan’s departure, saying the
situation was a “personnel matter.”

“We are also not going to engage in or comment on unverified accounts or rumors surrounding this situation,” the agency wrote in a
statement.

Rumors spread within the law enforcement community that there were concerns Morgan had been driving. The sheriff’s office told the
Tampa Bay Times that he was not charged with DUI because no one saw him operating any vehicles while he was intoxicated. A
criminal investigation was not launched.

He did not respond to calls and text messages for comment.

Deputies accused of domestic violence​

Days before Morgan’s ouster, the agency had addressed a different bout of misconduct among its own.

It happened after three sheriff’s deputies were separately arrested on domestic violence charges.

Brian Juliano, a Hillsborough County sheriff's deputy, was arrested last month on domestic violence charges in Pinellas County.
[ Pinellas County Sheriff's Office ]

In perhaps the most egregious case, Deputy Brian Juliano was accused of threatening to kill a woman with whom he was in a
relationship, holding her at gunpoint and, at one point, forcing the gun into her mouth.

The victim, in a petition for a protection order filed after Juliano’s arrest, described the incident in detail. She wrote that
Juliano accused her of not being “committed to his happiness” before menacing her with his gun, holding it to her temple, telling
her he wanted her to suffer, threatening to gauge her eyes. At another point, the woman wrote, he made her lie face down with her
legs interlocked, saying, “I’m really going to do it this time.” She convinced him to put the gun in his squad car.


She also described an incident from last September in which she said Juliano put her in handcuffs, then beat, strangled and
pistol-whipped her over the course of several hours.

Juliano, who’d worked for the sheriff’s office since 2020, remains jailed in Pinellas County on charges that include kidnapping
and aggravated battery.

Another deputy, Dayton Thomas, was arrested the same day in a Pasco County domestic violence case in which the victim was injured.
He’d worked for the sheriff’s office 10 years.

Ivan Feliciano Heredia, a jail deputy cadet, was also arrested the same week on a Pasco County domestic battery charge.

Heredia, who was still in his probationary employment period, was fired. The other two deputies were placed on administrative
leave without pay.

Chief Deputy Frank Losat acknowledged the seriousness of the issue in an March 25 news conference.

“That is a problem,” he said of the three arrests. “So we are taking proactive steps to address this.”

He said the office had placed the two deputies on leave without pay and fired the cadet. But he did not divulge whether the agency
would take measures beyond that.

Losat emphasized that the sheriff’s office has a “robust and intensive” hiring process designed to weed out people who might
pose a problem. Their process includes background investigations, home visits, lie detector exams and one-on-one interactions with
deputies. Deputies also receive regular training once they’re hired, including courses on domestic violence.

Lost urged people who are the victims in abusive relationships to seek help, saying the agency deals with domestic violence issues
every day.

“We beg these people,” he said, “to go get the help.”

The chief deputy’s comments struck some as uninformed on the nature of domestic violence, placing the onus on the victim to
correct the problem.

Bruce Bieber’s daughter, Abigail, was a sheriff’s deputy who was killed in a murder-suicide by another deputy she was dating.
Bieber said he believes the sheriff’s office lacks a sophisticated awareness of the nuances of domestic violence.

“A deputy responding to a domestic violence scene sees it as a singular incident, a slice of time, not a course of conduct that
plays out over years,” Bieber said. “This is information that’s been known for decades.”

Bieber has a pending lawsuit against the sheriff’s office alleging that it failed to recognize the deputy’s prior problematic
behavior, including a past abusive relationship.

Chynna Ratner, the victim in that prior case, has since become an advocate who seeks to educate the public about domestic
violence.

“Clearly there is a pipeline to this bad behavior that’s not being addressed from the early stages,” Ratner said of the sheriff’s
office. “There is quite a lot slipping through the cracks.”

On April 7, yet another deputy was arrested. Justin Thornsbury was accused of placing a tracking device on an SUV that belonged to
a fellow deputy with whom he had a personal relationship, according to sheriff’s officials. The woman later discovered the device
when she received an alert about it on her phone during a visit to another deputy’s home.

Thornsberry is accused of stalking and other crimes. He was suspended from duty without pay.

 

[Snitches Get Stitches]

Wayne Madsen Reports on; Chronister, Debartolo, Bondi, Judge Coe and Hillsborough's public corruption - 3 of 3​

An academic cheating scandal​

Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister, right, poses with Chief Deputy Anthony Collins during a promotion ceremony in Tampa on March
27, 2025. [ Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office ]

Before the latest troubles, the sheriff’s office last fall grappled with an academic cheating scandal that led to four
resignations and two firings among Chronister’s command staff.

It began with Anthony Collins, who in early 2025 was promoted to the role of chief deputy. A familiar face to community groups
across Hillsborough County, he was widely considered a potential successor to Chronister.

Then last summer, Collins abruptly resigned. It happened after his wife sent a series of emails alleging, among other things, that
he’d paid a man named Robert Roush to write academic papers for him while attending the prestigious FBI National Academy.

Chronister later said Collins admitted to him that Roush completed about half of his FBI coursework.

But in statements to the Times, Collins claimed he only sought Roush’s assistance with tutoring, proofreading and editing. Upon
hearing that explanation, the sheriff publicly called Collins a liar.

The scandal exploded weeks thereafter, when the Times made public records requests for emails exchanged between Roush and members
of the sheriff’s command staff.

The requests ultimately revealed numerous communications indicating that at least five other members of the command staff —
among them, three captains and two colonels — had also used Roush to complete academic and work-related assignments. There came
three more resignations and two firings.

In a news conference addressing the scandal, Chronister was asked if there might have been others in his agency who engaged in
academic dishonesty and didn’t get caught.

“I sure hope not,” he said. “I know we’ve done everything to try to make sure that I could confidently stand in front of you today
and say there is no one else.”

Is there a bigger problem?​

The sheriff’s office, which ranks among the nation’s largest local law enforcement organizations, employs more than 3,000 people.
In such a large organization, a certain amount of misconduct could be expected.

John DeCarlo, a former police chief and founder of the Center for Advanced Policing at the University of New Haven in Connecticut,
said statistically there will always be a percentage of officers within a given law enforcement agency below the performance bell
curve.

“The 80% of people in the middle of that curve are doing their jobs, they’re not committing crimes, they’re not being dishonest,”
DeCarlo said. “Under one of the tails there’s 10% of the people who are really fantastic, super employees. But then under the
other tail, there’s 10% of the people who should have never been employed in public safety.”

Leaders who identify people within that latter segment need to act quickly and decisively, DeCarlo said.

“If it’s let go, then it does become a huge cultural problem,” he said.

Times staff writer Tony Marrero contributed to this report.

 

[Not just HCSO]

Funny how no one is reporting on the large number of officers, senior officers and supervisors that are let go from TPD. There is an absolute problem at TPD that no one is confronting. If only the truth of the inside was really reported. Jane and Lee would be in big trouble, but no one is brave enough to make the public aware. Let them smile in their pictures with the community and post it for all to see. As if they really cared. Because those that actually do care and have resisted what they really want have been let go.

 

[Just a Jail Guard]

Funny how no one is reporting on the large number of officers, senior officers and supervisors that are let go from TPD. There is an absolute problem at TPD that no one is confronting. If only the truth of the inside was really reported. Jane and Lee would be in big trouble, but no one is brave enough to make the public aware. Let them smile in their pictures with the community and post it for all to see. As if they really cared. Because those that actually do care and have resisted what they really want have been let go.

Air the dirty laundry and purge your soul! That’s why LEO Affairs was originally created by Chip! Your leaders most likely remember that former sheriff Gee couldn’t get the courts to help them figure out who’s posting!

 

[Truth Speaker]

Funny how no one is reporting on the large number of officers, senior officers and supervisors that are let go from TPD. There is an absolute problem at TPD that no one is confronting. If only the truth of the inside was really reported. Jane and Lee would be in big trouble, but no one is brave enough to make the public aware. Let them smile in their pictures with the community and post it for all to see. As if they really cared. Because those that actually do care and have resisted what they really want have been let go.

Tell us you don't work at TPD without telling us you don't work there.

 

[Troll]

Funny how no one is reporting on the large number of officers, senior officers and supervisors that are let go from TPD. There is an absolute problem at TPD that no one is confronting. If only the truth of the inside was really reported. Jane and Lee would be in big trouble, but no one is brave enough to make the public aware. Let them smile in their pictures with the community and post it for all to see. As if they really cared. Because those that actually do care and have resisted what they really want have been let go.

Ummmmmmm….wrong agency.