Sheriff Carmine Marceno produces video that begs the question: Is there a culture of permitted violence at LCSO?

A former Lee County Sheriff’s sergeant admitted he broke the rules in the arrest of a Tice man in August, where enough force was used to fracture the man’s face and ribs.

However, Christopher Meyer is convinced Sheriff Carmine Marceno should not have fired him. That begs the question: why?

WINK News Investigative Reporter Celine McArthur finds out if there’s a culture of permitted violence within the agency.

A source gave me a video of Sheriff Carmine Marceno. They said it was shot inside headquarters and appeared to show Marceno’s view on use of force. The source asked to remain anonymous in fear of retaliation.

“Jumpsuits are red, justice is sweet, commit a crime in Lee County and your ass will be beat.” Sheriff Carmine Marceno, Lee County Sheriff’s Office

I asked three independent law enforcement experts to evaluate Marceno’s video and weigh in.

Dave Benson:

• 40 years of experience
• Retired as Director of Law Enforcement Training
• U.S. State Department

Jim Deranne:

• 20 years experience
• Retired Supervisory Special Agent
• Federal Bureau of Investigation

Jeff Meyers:

• 32 years experience
• Retired Deputy Chief
• Fort Myers Police Department

All of them said Marceno’s words—and how he delivers them—send a dangerous message that street justice is not only allowed, but encouraged.

“No matter what’s down on paper, what you allow, what you present, what you say, that’s what your subordinates are going to follow,” said Meyers.

“If you have a boss that’s coming out and talking about, you know, beating people… Obviously, there’s forethought involved in this and you’re trying to send a message,” said Derrane.

“When you make statements like that, and then we have potential alleged events like this, people connect the dots,” said Benson.

On August 11, 2023, 45-year-old Cory Samek said he took a beating from then LCSO Sergeant Christopher Meyer outside a gas station in Tice, while two deputies watched. Some of that arrest was captured on surveillance camera. Samek filed a complaint against the deputies involved and the sheriff’s office from behind bars, sparking an investigation by the State Attorney’s Office and LCSO.

Neither office will provide us their reports, citing an ongoing criminal investigation.

However, Meyer gave me an exclusive copy of his Internal Affairs summary. It recounts his first conversation with Assistant State Attorney Janesha Beckford. She explained to him how the charges against Samek could be dropped due to the extent of his injuries. Meyer responded, saying, “he was okay with that decision as Mr. Samek was sentenced on scene.”

“I told the state attorney that when they called to follow up with me,” said Meyer. “I go, as far as I’m concerned, he’s already been sentenced. I don’t care.”

“Are you kidding me? Justice was administered at the scene. You said that. That, to me is a terminable offense right off the bat,” said Benson.

LCSO Defensive Tactics Coordinator Captain Scott Griffith deemed the level of force used by Meyer in the video, “appeared to be in accordance with LCSO policy and procedures.”

“In my experience, I really haven’t seen a policy that allows for punches to the face,” said Meyers. “If you’re under attack, that’s a different story.”

LCSO’s Response to Resistance policy states that deputies, “shall not strike or use physical force against any person except when necessary in self-defense, in defense of another, to overcome physical resistance to arrest.”

“The guy’s hands are down the whole time. He did not make a threatening gesture,” said Derrane.

Marceno announced on Facebook, that Meyer and two other deputies were fired, and focused on the finding, “use of force that was not properly reported and documented.” He referred to the lack of reporting and documenting twice in the first four lines, begging the question: Would Meyer have been allowed to keep his job, had he filed the proper paperwork? Meyer believes the answer is yes.

“It was just a matter of the paperwork,” said Meyer. “Paperwork didn’t get done. That’s on me.”

Paperwork Meyer said Marceno didn’t have on hand when he was told about Samek’s complaint.

“I think that’s the main reason that they came down the way that they did, is because they got blindsided. They got made to look bad. The whole agency got turned upside down,” said Meyer.

He added, “It was always projected at the sheriff’s office that if you get into something and you get called into IA, or you get called in by a supervisor, and if you tell them the truth, and you tell them ‘this is why,’ that they will take care of you.”

Marceno posted a reaction to this story—one he had not yet seen—to Facebook Tuesday evening, claiming it was one-sided.

We asked LCSO for an interview with Marceno last week. The sheriff’s office asked for a deadline.
We gave it to them, and then received no response.

In his Facebook post, Marceno stated “In the public affairs office we run several, if not dozens of, scripts for videos.” He went on to say “I immediately decided not to use this video, as this did not represent my views on use of force.”

We would like to ask the Sheriff, then why did you shoot the video in the first place?
We also put in a public information request for the other videos he mentioned in the post.

celine.mcarthur@winknews.com