https://www.nbc-2.com/article/lee-county-sheriff-carmine-marceno-accused-laundering-money-misappropriating-funds/62193932

Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno has been accused of laundering money and misappropriating funds by a 17-year LCSO veteran and current candidate for sheriff.

Michael Hollow has worked in multiple positions, including internal affairs commander.

Hollow said he recorded a conversation he had with Ken Romano, a former consultant and honorary Lee County deputy, in August. Romano reportedly confessed the sheriff hired him as a consultant, with part of his salary given in cash to Marceno's father to help him pay for a new car.

"He told the undersheriff to give me a pay raise of $1,700 because that's what the car payment was approximately," Romano said.

Romano claims Marceno paid him $5,700 a month and had him take a portion of it to pay for gifts.

"And every month, I would just give his father the money and take cash. And for a couple of cabinets," Romano said. "And he pretended to take it like a secret that, you know, like, I didn't really think anything of the second thing."

That's when Romano told Hollow that he realized what he did could be considered money laundering.

Hollow said he legally recorded the conversation to turn it over to the FBI. They would not confirm or deny the investigation to us.

Hollow claimed the visit was after the FBI was made aware of the allegations.

He told NBC2's Dave Elias the timing of this is not to push his political agenda forward.

NBC2 asked the sheriff's office about these allegations and asked the sheriff to go on camera to sit down for an interview. He chose to not go on camera at this time.

We also reached out to the governor's office for reaction. They have not responded. However, sources close to the governor's office told Dave Elias they are aware of the allegations.

Former Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott issued a response following the allegations against Marceno:

"These are serious allegations, and Sheriff Marceno is best suited to address them as/if he chooses to do so. I prefer not to speculate."