Aronberg gets extra year in Hendry sheriff inquiry
State attorney looks at claim pair tried to cover up for felon in crash.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott has given Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg an additional year to look into allegations that Hendry County Sheriff Steve Whidden and one of his top deputies tried to cover up a convicted felon’s involvement in a hit-and-run crash that injured a teenage girl.
The governor last year assigned Aronberg’s office to look into claims of allegations of “misfeasance, malfeasance, and gross misconduct” against Whidden and Chief Deputy Kevin Nelson. A deputy in Whidden’s department claimed in a sworn statement in August 2016 that the two thwarted his efforts to investigate Richard Smith, a man the deputy believed caused a crash that injured a 15-year-old girl walking to a school bus stop in LaBelle on Sept. 11, 2015.
Prosecutors in the Hendry County Circuit asked the governor to give the case to prosecutors in another area because the state attorney for Hendry County has a working relationship with the sheriff and because one of the office’s chief assistant state attorneys is a former law partner of the attorney for the girl’s family, who is suing Smith’s insurance company.
Aronberg’s jurisdiction in the case was set to expire Friday, but he asked for more time to decide whether the case warranted criminal charges, according to Sept. 13 extension order from Scott’s office.
“The Assigned State Attorney has advised the Governor that the duties required by the previous executive assignment have not yet been completed as the case is still pending and under review,” reads the order, which extended Aronberg’s jurisdiction to Sept. 29, 2018.
So far, the only publicly released documents about the cover-up allegations are in the form of an August 2016 sworn statement
that Hendry County sheriff ’s Deputy Vernon Speak gave as part of the girl’s lawsuit.
With a broken passen- ger-side rearview mirror from a white Ford F-150 as his only evidence, Speak said that it took him and other officers nearly two weeks to track down Smith by watching for an F-150 traveling near where the incident occurred. They eventually made a traffic stop of Smith, who told them he had been driving in the area at the time of the accident and hit something that broke off his mirror. Smith told Speak he thought he’d hit a mail- box but found nothing when and angry and told me that I where he and three others he returned to the area sev- made him look like a (exple- pleaded guilty to charges eral times. tive) (expletive),” Speak said they fraudulently claimed
The deputy said he didn’t of a subsequent meeting with they were converting anibelieve Smith’s story and Whidden, according to the mal fat and vegetable oil into began to confront him with sworn statement. high quality renewable fuel the inconsistencies, but by At that meeting, Whid- so they could collect millions then, Smith had called the den and Nelson expressed in biodiesel tax credits. He sheriff personally on his cell- their dismay that Speak had is still in prison. phone. According to Speak’s included Whidden’s name Citing the open investiga2016 sworn statement, Whid- and contact with Smith in tion, Whidden and officials den called Speak before the a report on the case, the from his department have deputy could question Smith sworn statement said. The declined to comment to The further. two are also accused of failing Palm Beach Post about the
In Speak’s sworn state- to send the report to prosematter, but Whidden previment, he also said the sher- cutors after they decided to ously publicly denied allegaiff told Smith he didn’t have close the case. tions of any wrongdoing in to show up for a later interSmith was never charged the case and said the case view Speak had scheduled in the traffic incident. At the against Smith was closed with him and was furious time of the crash, he was just because there wasn’t enough that the deputy kept ques- days away from beginning a evidence against him. tioning Smith. 41-month federal prison sen
“He was red in the face tence for his role in a scheme