Grand jury finds no evidence of crime for investigation of 4 Fort Myers policemen

A police department mystery has been closed after four years of waiting.

The Gulf Coast Police Benevolent Association says a grand jury investigation of four Fort Myers police officers placed on leave is over. Matt Sellers, the president of Gulf Coast PBA, confirmed this with us Friday.

The prosecutor told the officers a grand jury investigation did not find sufficient evidence of a commission of a federal crime.

WINK News has followed this investigation since 2017 when all four officers were put on paid administrative leave. Those officers are Capt. Melvin Perry, Sgt. Rick Notaro, Sgt. Michael Forbes and Officer Jason Jackson.

Three have since retired. Only Jackson remains on the force.

The day after they went on leave, an audit of Fort Myers Police Department known as “The Freeh Report” came out, revealing major accusations of corruption at the department, including drug trafficking and murder.

Mayor Kevin Anderson told us he’s glad this is over.

“It’s unfortunate that the accusations were made, and the way the process works, you can penalize the officers until sufficient finding of guilt,” Anderson said. “Because federally our hands were tied, we had to sit back for the feds. Subsequently, one of the officers has been receiving pay the entire time. Three others received pay up until they retired.”

Sellers says he’s still waiting for confirmation from the prosecutor in writing this saga is over.

We contacted FMPD for comment. In a statement, the department said “they have not been formally notified by the U.S. Attorney’s Office yet. Once they are, they will comment.”