21 hours ago
6
On May 14, 2026, Kerrie J. Stillman, Executive Director of the Florida Commission on Ethics, signed a transmittal letter to Gregory Tony at 2601 W. Broward Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, 33312. Certified mail. Return receipt requested. Confidential stamped across the page.
The letter recites § 112.324, Florida Statutes. Legal sufficiency first. Then preliminary investigation. Then probable cause. Then, potentially, a public hearing in or near the county where the violation occurred. Broward.
Tony has been served. The docket exists. The clock runs.
I filed on May 2, 2026. Two counts. Each pleaded as independently sufficient. No consolidation requested.
Count One, CS-2026-001. Branding expenditure. Tony directed or permitted approximately $552,905 in agency spending on physical and digital branding identifying him as “Sheriff Gregory Tony, Ph.D.” or “Sheriff Dr. Gregory Tony, Ph.D.” The degree Nova Southeastern University conferred in May 2024 is a Doctor of Education. The title page says so. The approval page says so. Tony’s own Statement of Original Work, signed May 12, 2024, says so. He then signed off on the wrong letters going up across a training center, a promotions ceremony program, the BSO biography page, a Third Amendment to Agreement with Bound Tree Medical, LLC, and a police-services agreement with the City of Tamarac.
Statute: F.S. § 112.313(6). Misuse of public position.
Count Two, CS-2026-002. Database extraction. Tony used five non-public BSO internal information systems — RMS, CFS, CAD, PeopleSoft, PowerDMS — to compile the data set on which his 2024 dissertation depends entirely. BSO PIO Carey Codd told Florida Bulldog on April 28, 2026 that RMS and PeopleSoft are internal databases solely for the use of Broward Sheriff’s Office employees. The agency confirmed the non-public character in writing. The personal benefit is the conferred Doctor of Education degree.
Statute: F.S. § 112.313(8). Disclosure or use of information not available to the general public.
Stillman’s letter notes that Commission confidentiality binds the Commission’s records until Tony files a written waiver or the matter reaches a public stage. The same letter notes that confidentiality does not govern the complainant or the respondent. The complainant retains his First Amendment right to discuss the complaint he filed.
The complainant is exercising it now.
The relief requested across both counts: investigation under § 112.322, probable cause findings, public censure and reprimand, civil penalties up to $10,000 per violation, restitution of $552,905 to Broward County, forfeiture and salary penalties under § 112.317, referral to the Governor under Article IV, § 7, and referral to FDLE and the Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission for evaluation under Florida Administrative Code Rule 11B-27.0011.
Tony has prior history with this Commission. In March 2025, he settled a separate misuse-of-public-position matter resulting in public censure and reprimand by the Governor. That settlement is a public record. The conduct underlying the present complaint commenced in or about June 2024 and continued through the date of filing.
BSO PIO Carey Codd received advance notice of this post. No response was incorporated.
Tony spent $552,905 of public money putting two letters on a wall that the title page of his own signed dissertation says he didn’t earn. He then signed private-vendor contracts using the same two letters. His agency then removed the dissertation link from his BSO biography page in the days immediately preceding the Florida Bulldog article that started asking why.
Stillman signed the letter. The certified mail went out. Tony got it.
The next move belongs to the Commission.
Press play.
Tick.
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