OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. – New Osceola County Sheriff Chris Blackmon gave News 6 Community Correspondent Laverne McGee an exclusive interview today on how he is going to deal with the crisis unfolding in the office.
On June 5, then-Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez was shockingly arrested on charges of racketeering. He was taken to Lake County jail and will remain there until he can come up with a million dollars in bond money. A judge has stated he must be able to prove that money was obtained legally.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Chris Blackmon to fill the role. He had been serving as the Central Florida regional chief for the Florida Highway Patrol, overseeing troopers in 13 counties across the Orlando and Tampa areas, from Volusia County to Pinellas County.
Lopez is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal cash payments as part of what prosecutors are calling an organized criminal enterprise.
[See News 6 reporting on Marcos Lopez arrest in gambling case]
A judge on Friday set his bond at $1 million, but Lopez can’t pay it without proving the money does not come from criminal activity.
Lopez remains jailed in Lake County and court records show that he is scheduled to have a motion hearing on Wednesday, according to the Lake County clerk of courts website.
[Watch News 6 coverage of Marcos Lopes being issued $1M bond]
[Read the full interview with Sheriff Blackmon below and watch the video at the top of this story]
Laverne: First of all, congratulations. I know that it is under difficult circumstances. Tell me how you feel stepping into this role.
Sheriff Blackmon: Firstly, I’d like to extend my gratitude to the governor. And for Florida Patrol Executive Director David Kerner for picking me or nominating me for the potential position, which eventually, on Thursday, evolved into me taking over as the sheriff of Osceola County. This is a huge responsibility, and I accept this challenge with great honor and humility. I’m deeply honored and profoundly grateful for the opportunity to serve as the Osceola County Sheriff. This appointment is definitely not a title, I’m not a title guy. It’s it’s a sacred trust that’s put upon the sheriff to do the right thing. And that is a commitment to protect, serve, and uplift every member of our community. Paramount to me is the protection of children. That’s number one on my goal. But every person that lives in Osceola County, or as it calls under the protection of the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
Laverne: There’s a lot of people, of course, who pointed out many of the missteps that he made, but then there are also some who supported him. How are you going to deal with those people who say he’s innocent? He was set up, this is, you know, he’s targeted?
Sheriff Blackmon: I would say, on that I wouldn’t he wasn’t targeted. I can tell you. I’ve read the report and not because I took over in his position. I’m disgusted by what I read. This report is extremely lengthy. I can’t go into it because it’s still under investigation. But when that becomes a public record and it’s viewable for everybody, I challenge you to sit down and read it. And if you come up with a different opinion than what the investigators found, you got a problem. Because the sheriff was doing criminal behavior. And again, I said it earlier, how in the world can you be the lead person of an agency? The sheriff of that county can betray the trust of everybody that supported you – your agency, all employees across the board and the people who voted for you and put you in office. He was not targeted. He did this to himself. And there’s going to be some other things in the investigation I can’t discuss. It’s going to come out and you’re going to read it and say, ‘Holy smokes, this is not good.’ If you put on your thinking cap, I’m just trying to direct you, why would Homeland Security be involved in something like this?
The governor doesn’t take lightly removing a sheriff. He doesn’t take lightly removing a state attorney because it’s typically somebody not doing their job, as he’s done with the state attorneys before removing them. But this is a sheriff that not only wasn’t doing his job, he was had a criminal enterprise set up. And that’s why he’s charged with RICO. I don’t know where that case is going to lead, but all I can tell you is this – the new sheriff of Osceola County, I’m gonna do my best to ensure the protection of this community.
Laverne: But there are some people who are concerned that he has some insiders in there. How are you going to deal with that?
Sheriff Blackmon: The investigation is still continuing, as I said. So, FDLE is going to vet whoever, through the investigation. There’s members, I’m sure they got to talk to and interview, but that will be dealt with at that time.
Right now, I can tell you, sitting here talking to you now, there are no expectations of any other involvement from what I was told through the investigation. But as their investigation continues, if anything pops up, they said it’d be the first call, they’d let me know. But they’re going to vet the entire staff, to let us know what’s going on.
Laverne: Is that FDLE vetting this down?
Sheriff Blackmon: Yes, FDLE is doing the investigation, so they’re going to vet the ones for me. I’m going to tell me through the investigation whether they had anything further on anybody there or not. And I asked for that. I said, I need that because the community needs to know that. Like you just said, people have probably sounds like somebody is, advised you that they think people could be involved.
Laverne: That’s why I was wondering, do you need to do a full audit, maybe of the department? ?
Sheriff Blackmon: We’re doing a financial audit to start with, and we’re doing a audit of personnel files of the command staff. We’re looking at everything. It’s not just a Blackmon take over and run with us. We’re going to do a full, thorough, we’ve got to do it. It’s. This doesn’t matter anybody. We ain’t doing evidence property audit as well on everything they’ve got in inventory, which happens when you get a new sheriff, regardless of whether it’s a an appointment or whether you’re elected. But, there will be a full financial audit as well to see what’s going on. We’re going to try to go through everything we can with a fine-tooth comb to make sure there’s nothing there that’s alarming. If there is, I can assure you that we will take action immediately. But again, I’m waiting for FDLE’s investigation.
Laverne: There’s no question, like I said, your credentials. And nobody would question you being appointed in this role. But let’s face it, you are going into this role with very difficult circumstances. You have a sheriff who was arrested. Certainly you have a team that is there that is reeling still. How will you deal with those officers and personnel at the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office given this situation?
Sheriff Blackmon: Understand that this is not a systemic problem with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. This is one person, and sadly, it was the sheriff who has betrayed the trust of everybody that works at the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office and every resident that lives in Osceola County. And on top of that, he’s violated the trust of those who elected him to be in office to do the right thing. He did not. He has broken the law. To me, it’s at a higher level. When you’re a sheriff and administrator of an agency. You’re supposed to uphold the law, not break the law. To me, and I hate to use the term, but there’s nothing worse than a dirty cop. And I can assure you, as the sheriff of Osceola County, that we will not have that. We will not tolerate, law enforcement doing the wrong thing. I believe in integrity. And once your integrity is gone, you have nothing. So that’s going to be a staple of the sheriff’s office. I have met with as many people as I could. The first day I spoke to numerous shifts, gave them my vision for the sheriff’s office and what I want to see and I want them to go out and do their job and do it right. Not feel any threats or political intimidation because of an elected official that’s worried about votes. I’m not. We’re going to do our job and do it right. You want to see what the future holds.
Laverne: Osceola County is very different than many of the other counties there. There’s a large Latino population there. There’s a large group of people from different places. How is that going to affect how you handle your role and what how your relationship with the community will develop?
Sheriff Blackmon: We’re going to develop relationships with them because I’m not from that area, not done that there. But, again, my job is to protect everybody. It doesn’t matter. We have to serve all and we’re going to serve with integrity and grace and do our job the right way, and we’re not going to put up with any criminal activity or any criminal offenses in Osceola County. The government passed a lot of legislation governing the protest and stuff like that, and we’re not going to tolerate nonsense. I believe you have the right to protest, but it’s peaceful. We’re not going to put up with any garbage in Osceola County. So but again, I want to get out in the community and meet the folks of the Osceola County and talk to them and see what’s on their mind. One, to reassure them that, we’re going to do the right thing. And I want to remove the stain that, the former sheriff has left on the sheriff’s office.
Laverne: Now, you also have a really specialized background with ICE. How does your background help you with that and what is your vision for that?
Sheriff Blackmon: I’ve heard the term of the UDA. You’re either here illegally or you’re not. If you’re illegally in the United States, the President has already put out the word you can self-deport. I intend to continue with that. If you’re here illegally, you shouldn’t be in the United States. Again, my office will help people if they want to self-deport. We will reach out to the community because I believe that people should integrate here legally, not just come in and take jobs from other folks by being illegal.
Laverne: And you’ll be working closely with ICE. Is that correct?
Sheriff Blackmon: Absolutely. We’ve got, ICE has just sent an agent down from D.C. that’s directly assigned to the state of Florida. And he’s the gentleman who helped us get the highway patrol 287(g) certified, which what that means to 287(g) is all state troopers that are 287(g) certified and credentialed, they had to do training and got credentials. They can enforce any ICE statutes. I’m going to say it as the sheriff, you need to self-deport because if you do not and you’re detained by law enforcement, according to what the president’s put out, you’re not going to be allowed to come back. So if you deport yourself, they’re giving you money to get you home, start the process, do it right and come back and be a productive citizen and pay the taxes that you and I pay and everybody else pays at work, say, a legal job.
Laverne: So, will people notice there’s a new sheriff in town?
Sheriff Blackmon: I hope so and I hope you look at it as a positive, I can’t change everything in a day. If it makes sense – we had some issues at Highway Patrol that when Director Kerner came in, I met with him and said some of our processes are redundant. They’re ridiculous. So we streamlined a lot of stuff that we did. So that’s my objective internally is to make the agency more efficient internally.
Laverne: So let’s go to housekeeping. When do you actually start? And by the way, thank you. Your dedication is showing because I know you’re on vacation with your lovely wife and family, and you decided to, you know, spend a little time with us here at News 6. When do you officially start? When will we see you in the office?
Sheriff Blackmon: I’m back next Monday, but I started Thursday, unfortunately, and I told the governor’s office when this went down, I said, listen, we’ve already got a pre-planned trip, and this for us could not be at the absolute worst timing. And I hated I mean, I really, really hated to leave, you know, the day after. Knowing the way I work, it’s probably going to be nonstop for even Saturdays and Sundays, so we can get things rolling because I owe it to the employees to introduce myself to them and tell them what my thoughts are for the sheriff’s office, but again, I want their feedback.
It was funny. I’m not going to call the person out, but I just kind of comical. I had a deputy asked me, ‘supervisor, you came from FHP and your uniforms are usually pretty sharp. Are you going to make us put our vest under our shirts?’ And I said no, because, you know, FHP ours are under our uniform. Sure. I said, I am not. And then somebody said, ‘hey, are you going to make us cover up our tattoos?’ I said, listen, it’s a societal norm. Now, I’m no fan of tattoos, however, I’m not going to come in and change out overnight. As long as your tattoos aren’t offensive or just deemed to be offensive, okay, I’m okay with it and more. But one person said, ‘what about my beard? Because FHP doesn’t allow beards.’ I said, listen, the three things we just talked about are not being changed. I’m just going to ask you if you have a beard, it needs to be sharp, needs to be trimmed up. I’m not in favor of those either on the job. However, I’m not going to change it because that’s the norm has been going on there. Again, if you come in looking like Z.Z. Top, we got a problem. It better be one of my UCs and not our patrol deputy wearing his Z.Z. Top beard. So, but I’m not against it, those three things. They’ve asked me other questions about stuff, and I said, listen, I need to know to you all what’s important.
Laverne: What is your vision? When you are in there? And it was your perfect world and it’s under your leadership, what does the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office look like at that point?
Sheriff Blackmon: I hope the community looked at us is a very trustworthy agency. It’s out to do the right thing and we are out to protect our community, at all cost. And paramount to me is people that prey on children and people that prey on the elderly. So, it’s going to be a law and order county. I believe in the governor’s initiative. I’m not saying that because he appointed me. You can ask anybody prior to Tuesday morning what my view was, and it’s law and order. I believe a person has a right to protest, but that’s peaceful. We’re not going to tolerate the stuff that’s happening in Los Angeles. Absolutely not. People go to jail. There’s been a number of things that were through the combat and Combating Violence, Disorder and Looting and Law Enforcement Protection Act that the governor passed last year, or maybe the year before. But there’s a lot of things in there to curtail the criminal behavior and destruction of property and injuries to people, because you want to protest, and taking over roadways is not going to happen.
Laverne: What about peaceful protests?
Sheriff Blackmon That is covered in the Constitution. I support that one million percent. That is governed in our U.S. Constitution. So that is, we will support that. You have the right to protest. You don’t have to agree with us, but you can’t be violent. You can’t take over roadways.
Laverne: I think people are going to be really happy to hear that. And we’re so appreciative that you took the time out of your vacation to speak with us here at News 6, and we are looking forward to meeting you and seeing you in person when you start on Monday.
Sheriff Blackmon: Let me give you one other little, little tidbit. My ancestry is American Indian, so quite possibly could be the first American Indian to be a sheriff in the state, I don’t know. But the really cool thing is, I was looking at it this morning, Osceola is named after, Billy Powell, who was an Indian, Osceola Indian. He was actually a Creek and American mix. And I am Creek and Cherokee. I’m also European as well, but, ancestry is some Native American. So to me, it’s cool to be part Native American and be in a county named after a fellow Creek Indian in Osceola.
Laverne: I’d say that’s breaking news.
Sheriff Blackmon: I guess. It’s pretty cool to me. It’s funny, I didn’t put all this together – this morning I’m laying in bed thinking and thinking about this interview with you, and things to say and I said, ‘let me look at the history of Osceola County, because I know I’ve seen the logo’ and sure enough, Osceola was named after Billy Powell, which is cool to me because we have some Native American blood in us, my family, and thought that was pretty cool.
Laverne: That is amazing. Is that on your mom or your dad’s side?
Sheriff Blackmon: Both. More on my dad’s side than my mom. My mom is more European. And on that, my dad is Creek, and Eastern European.
Laverne: Well, that is amazing. I think you might be, I think you might be the first. I have to check into that. Now, like I said, that’s breaking news to me. So thank you.
Sheriff Blackmon: I think that it’s pretty cool there are certain things or privileges you may get, but I’ve never exercised those. I don’t I don’t want to use those. I want to do it on my merit of who I am and the way I conduct business and the way I treat people. And I try to operate by the golden rule – treat others the way you want to be treated. And I believe in divine intervention through God and I believe all things are possible through the Lord. So I’m gonna hang my hat on that, and we’re going to keep rolling with that.
[See video about Osceola County Sheriff’s Office Executive Director termination from agency]