Fort Myers man to be sentenced for role in Lee County Port Authority racketeering scheme

Writer: Matthew Seaver
Published: Updated:
Thomas Brennan
Thomas Brennan (Credit: Lee County Sheriff’s Office)

The man at the top of a conspiracy to defraud the Lee County Port Authority of nearly $1 million is set to be sentenced after he pled straight to the court on Monday.

Thomas Brennan, 73, of Fort Myers, will be sentenced on RICO Conspiracy, Organized Fraud over $50,000, and Money Laundering over $100,000. Each charge is a first-degree felony.

Brennan’s plea directly to court is not a guilty plea, but rather a right for a defendant to accept the charges presented and forego a jury trial. He is set to be sentenced on May 23.

The state attorney’s office says Brennan was part of an operation to defraud the Lee County Port Authority of more than $900,000 that began in 2014. An audit by the Lee County Clerk of Courts in 2017 uncovered the illegal activity.

RELATED: FDLE affidavit shows new info in $700K Port Authority racketeering scheme

The audit found that Brenna, the manager of Triangle Services Florida, had employed ‘ghost employees.’ Triangle Services Florida provided janitorial services for RSW.

Those employees were real people, but they were not working. The audit found that the ‘ghost employees’ did not get training and never used their airport accesses badges. The Lee County Clerk of Court’s audit found that the employees were on the books from 2014 until the audit uncovered them in 2017.

The state attorney’s office says the ‘ghost employees’ received regular paychecks from the Lee County Port Authority.

According to the state attorney’s office, six other defendants in the RICO case have already been convicted. The state has collected $223,800 in restitution as a condition of their sentencing.

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