Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony ordered to disclose records
Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony must obtain records spelling out what crimes he was charged with in Philadelphia as a teenager and whether he was convicted of any of those crimes, a Broward judge ruled Thursday.
Tony, who was appointed sheriff in January 2019 and won election to a full term last November, is being sued by former political opponents who accuse Tony of being ineligible to serve because of what they claim is at least one felony conviction in Pennsylvania. No official record of any such conviction has surfaced, and his accusers were ordered last month to come up with evidence to back their claims.
Tony has admitted that as a teenager, he was accused of murder in Philadelphia in a 1993 case that resulted in his acquittal. Details about that case have been scarce — juvenile records in Pennsylvania are sealed and not
a public record, and Tony has said he was vindicated because he acted in self-defense.
Tony has said an adult probation case stemmed from a traffic citation, not a criminal case. His legal team also produced a notice from Philadelphia courts showing Tony “has no criminal record in Pennsylvania.”
Former candidates H. Wayne Clark and Scott Israel filed suit in November saying that if Tony were to be hiding a past felony conviction, he cannot legally serve as sheriff.
Clark said his efforts to obtain records from Philadelphia were complicated by Tony’s status as a juvenile at the time, also asserting that the document showing Tony has no criminal record does not apply to a juvenile record.
Broward Circuit Judge William Haury ordered
Tony’s attorneys to obtain the juvenile records and submit them to him for review. Attorneys on both sides of the dispute agreed that Haury’s review of the records could resolve the lawsuit one way or the other: If Tony is telling the truth, the lawsuit goes away. If the records show a felony conviction, the judge will have to find for the plaintiffs.
Tony’s legal troubles extend to other lawsuits and investigations. Earlier this week he submitted an answer to another lawyer’s questions about his alleged criminal past, stating “To the best of my recollection, I do not believe so” when asked if he’s been a defendant in a criminal case.
Darren Covar, the attorney for Israel in Thursday’s case, mocked that wording and asked Haury to make sure that Tony’s future responses were more definitive. “That would not fly if somebody was doing a background check for his agency, and it can’t be used here,” Covar said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is conducting its own investigation into whether Tony crossed any legal boundaries when he failed to disclose the juvenile Philadelphia murder case in background checks when he applied to work for the Coral Springs Police Department and the Broward Sheriff ’s Office.
An FDLE affidavit filed in November indicated the agency had requested court and arrest records from Philadelphia related to Tony. The subpoenas were issued in May and September through the Broward State Attorney’s Office.
Tony also did not disclose the 1993 killing when he was being screened by Gov. DeSantis before Tony’s appointment to the sheriff ’s job. The governor’s office had asked state investigators to do a background check on Tony a day before he was appointed as sheriff.