FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
INVESTIGATIVE REPORT

On January 16, 2019, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Of?ce of Executive
Investigations (OEI) received a complaint from Deanna Williams against Lee County Sheriff
Carmine Marceno. Williams alleged Marceno threatened her when she revealed to him that she
was pregnant.

On January 23, 2019, FDLE OEI Inspector Meschelle Pittman and Inspector Troy Cope
interviewed Williams regarding the allegations against Marceno. Williams provided the following
in summary:

Initial Interaction

In July 2018, she and Marceno met when the Lee County Sheriff's Of?ce (LCSO) Economic
Crimes Unit investigated her complaint against an attorney who fraudulently obtained money
that was supposed to have been awarded to her from a civil case. According to Williams, she
and Marceno were friends on Facebook. After making comments about the individual who was
working on her case from the LCSO Economic Crimes Unit, Marceno inboxed her his cellular
number and asked for her number, which she provided. Marceno called her and during the
telephone conversation they agreed to meet on the following Monday at the LCSO to discuss
her complaint. She met with Marceno and an attorney from LCSO on that following Monday.

The Friday after their meeting, Williams agreed to go for a ride with Marceno and ended up at a
bar where they both had drinks. According to Williams, although she told Marceno that she was
not much of a drinker and only occasionally drank dirty martinis, he ordered her a dirty martini
anyway. She advised she drank the beverage because she did not want to be rude and
ultimately wanted his assistance with her complaint. When asked if Marceno forced her to go
with him to the bar and drink the martini, Williams advised he did not.

Relationship and Pregnancy

 

According to Williams, she and Marceno were in a consensual relationship from July 2018 to
September 2018. The relationship ended when she told him she was pregnant. Up until she
told him she was pregnant, he had always spoken to her kindly. However, after telling him, he
began to speak to her in an aggressive, serious and loud tone. She described his tone as
"chilling". Marceno told her she had to have an abortion and that there was no other option.
Williams advised that she was in Indiana with her family at the time she disclosed this to

 

 

 

 

 

 

Case Number: EI-73-8657 Serial #2 142

Author: Pittman, Meschelle F. Of?ce: Executive Investigations
Activity Start Date: 01/16/2019 Activity End Date:01/23/2019
Approved By: Negrete, Luis Angel

 

 

Description:Complaint against Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno

THIS REPORT IS INTENDED ONLY FOR THE USE OF THE AGENCY TO WHICH IT WAS
DISSEMINA TED AND MAY CONTAIN INFORMATION THAT IS EITHER PRIVILEGED OR
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Marceno. Some family members overheard parts of the conversation with Marceno,
specifically, him yelling at her and telling her to have the abortion.
Williams advised that Marceno repeatedly told her she was not giving birth to this child under
any circumstances, no matter what. Further, he told her there were a lot of ways a pregnancy
could end other than abortions. Williams advised she took these type of comments as threats
from Marceno.
She felt Marceno made comments to her about the violence that his father committed in effort to
let her know he had resources. Williams alleged Marceno told her, "you have no fucking clue
the kind of resources I have". When asked if Marceno ever told her specifically who he would
have do something to her or what, Williams said no and that he was too smart to do something
like that. Williams stated she believed Marceno would have someone assault her to cause her
to have a miscarriage.
Williams advised she has not had any communication with Marceno since late September or
early October. She has since filed a paternity suit against Marceno. According to Williams,
Marceno told her he nor his family would ever have anything to do with the child. However, he
has since filed a motion for shared custody. Williams explained that because Marceno has
expressed to her repeatedly that he did not want this child and would not pay child support, it
would be relevant when the determination is made regarding shared custody.
Threats
Williams advised when someone told her on LEO Affairs (blog) information about her son's
school schedule, she believed that Marceno revealed where her son attended school because
no one else knew. Further, she said her son received death threats via telephone calls and text
messages. She advised that although the telephone number that called was an internet based
number, she believed Marceno was behind it as well. She too had received calls from people
with untraceable numbers. On one of the calls, an unknown female told her she needed to have
her "throat slit and face slashed."
Williams advised that communication between Marceno and herself stopped in October 2018
and both obtained lawyers. She wanted Marceno to take back the threats and understand that
she was not having an abortion so she could have some kind of peace.
Williams indicated she spoke with Marceno's mother who told her that Marceno thought the
right thing for her to do was to have an abortion and that it was wrong for her to have the child
because they were not married.
According to Williams, at times Marceno seemed worried and would beg her not to have the
child. He told her if she did what he thought was right, he'd make the arrangements and would
be there for her. Other times he would tell her she was not giving birth to the child under any
circumstances and would reiterate that she had no idea the kind of resources he had and he
had people who would do absolutely anything he asked.
When asked if Williams felt she was in imminent danger, she replied the threats were always
general in nature. She advised she thought he was behind people following her and being

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behind her house late at night. When Marceno's father posted a sarcastic comment on
her Facebook page, she was scared because of the things Marceno told her about his
father's history of being violent.
Video and Pictures
Williams advised that although she noticed the security camera in Marceno's living room area, it
did not occur to her until later that she could have been recorded. "In gest", Marceno told her
there were cameras all over and he had video recordings.
She recalled one night when she and Marceno's grandmother were at his house. The three of
them were sitting on the couch with Williams in the middle. Williams had fallen asleep and
woke up to seeing Marceno looking through pictures on his cellular telephone. She saw pictures
of herself that had been taken while she was sleeping and his grandmother sitting next to her.
She also noticed other pictures of his parents and her from the day before that she was
not aware he had taken.
Williams also recalled an incident where she suspected Marceno taking a picture of
her performing a sexual act on him while he was driving. When she asked him if he had taken a
picture, he said no he was changing the radio station with his bluetooth. Williams advised she
did not make a big deal out of it because she had been drinking.
According to Williams, Marceno jokingly said to her, he had pictures of her but recanted by
saying he would never do that to her.
Abuse of Position
Williams advised that Marceno seemed to be an exhibitionist because he always wanted to
have sex in public and in his official vehicle. They often went on dates in his official
vehicle. She did not know whether he was on or off duty.
Williams advised she did not have solid proof of a lot of the things alleged against
Marceno. She was contacted by women who Marceno has either had sex with or made sexual
advances towards after their dealings with law enforcement due to drug or alcohol related
incidents. Williams explained she believed Marceno chose these women because of their lack
of credibility. With this, she believed he would get away with things because he was smart and
slick.
Initially, after speaking with Marceno about her case, he told her to call him anytime she needed
anything about her complaint. This was upsetting to her because she trusted
him. Williams advised she would have never been interested in him had she not been drinking
on their first outing at a local bar. She has multiple sclerosis and drinking makes her vulnerable
and unsteady. Marceno had his hands on her waist and she knew if it had not been for
the alcohol, she would have been very uncomfortable with him touching her. He assured her no
boundaries would be crossed and he understood they were just friends. However, while at the
bar, she was turned away laughing at a situation and when she turned around Marceno kissed
her. Williams said this "pissed" her off and she told him to stop. She felt she was in a horrible
position because she did not want to upset him and not get justice in her case. Although he did

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not force her to go out with him and he did not force her to drink, she went out with him under
false pretense, as friends only going on a drive. Everything he told her he would not do was
done when she started drinking. Williams stated that although it was "not sexual assault
or rape", she did not consent to him kissing her.
Williams said she felt Marceno chose her because he knew what she had been through. He
also knew she had been celibate for a long time and wanted to be the one to break that
streak. Williams advised she was warned by others that he used his position to get women. This
bothered her because she felt that was exactly what he had done. Further, nothing was ever
done with her complaint because he told her he could not be associated with the case and that
no one could ever know how they met. He told her to tell people they met through Facebook.
During the interview, Williams played a voicemail recording she allegedly received from
Marceno on the Monday night after she met with him and the LCSO attorney that proved he told
her if she needed anything to contact him. In summary the voicemail message played by
Williams was of a male (assumably Marceno) who advised he had just landed at the
airport. The caller apologized for the lost documents and advised he would return tomorrow
and would find out what was going on. He thanked Williams for her patience and advised to let
him know if he can help.
**The full audio recording of Williams' interview will be attached to this Investigative
Report as a Related Item and can be reviewed for further details.
Text Messages
During the interview, Williams referenced text messages she forwarded to FDLE OEI Inspector
Jonathan Feltgen in December 2018. Williams advised the text messages showed the
desperation of Marceno for her to have an abortion. A review of the text messages revealed, in
part, a lengthy discussion about Williams being pregnant. Marceno repeatedly expressed not
wanting to have a child and Williams repeatedly expressed her unwillingness to have an
abortion and the possible ramifications of having one.
Some of the quotes from Marceno regarding this discussion were:
"I BEG you to please not have this child. Beg is an understatement. A child deserves two
parents."
"Especially not at this stage of my life."
"Please do not ruin my life. I beg you please."
"I am so sorry...I truly am."
"It's not right for us to have a child...I truly believe is not right."
"I didn't want one with my wife years ago and certainly not at this time of my life."
"The best option is to not have it. I do not want a child."
"I don't mean to be mean. I just am telling you what I feel."
"I'm not trying to talk you into having an abortion but trying to say why I believe not having
the child is best."
Some of the quotes from Williams regarding this discussion were:

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"You're asking me to have our living child scraped from my body with sharp instruments in a
bloody horrible procedure in an abortion clinic."
"The worst thing that's happened here is your reaction."
"I have been and continue to be willing to approach this in the least damaging way
possible. You just make harsh demands that I put myself in harm's way to benefit you."
"How does this not break down into a legal battle? If we can't figure out how to work
together and be adults it would be awful all around."
"My friends and family are concerned about my safety in Fort Myers. I've made it clear that
your reaction was harsh but you didn't threaten."
**The text messages in their entirety will be attached to this Investigative Report as a
Related Item and can be reviewed for further details.
Based on a review of the above interview, text messages, information forwarded to the FDLE
OEI by the Executive Office of the Governor, Florida Attorney General's Office and the Federal
Bureau of Investigations regarding allegations against Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno
and consultation with the FDLE's Office of General Counsel, it was determined the information
provided did not constitute a criminal predicate that would warrant a criminal investigation by
FDLE at this time.
A copy of the audio recording, text messages, information forwarded by other agencies and the
FDLE OEI response to Williams will be maintained in the Related Items Section of this
Investigative Report.

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