NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – Three Nassau County Sheriff’s Office deputies were arrested Thursday and accused of official misconduct and theft following the outcome of an investigation, according to the sheriff’s office.
Sheriff Bill Leeper announced in a news release that Deputy Henry Holmberg, Sergeant Brian Blackwell, and Sergeant Wilfred Quick surrendered themselves to the Nassau County jail on Thursday on felony and misdemeanor theft charges and felony official misconduct charges after an investigation found they were submitting time sheets for payment by the agency while also being paid by a private employer while working “secondary employment” off-duty.
The three sheriff’s office employees arrested were among six deputies who were on paid leave last month amid the investigation. All six deputies have been fired, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office also said it issued arrest warrants for two other sergeants who were also found to be engaging in what’s commonly known as “double dipping.” On Thursday evening, the two sergeants, identified as Sgt. Joshua Huffmon and Sgt. Kellam Paolillo, turned themselves in and were booked into the jail.
“A dollar is too much,” News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney said. “It’s a slap in the face of men and women in law enforcement who do it the right way, and those who don’t, tarnish the badge.”
According to the sheriff’s office, it is “impermissible to be paid for an on-duty shift while being paid for an off-duty employment job at the same time, while the employee is supposed to be serving and protecting our community while on-duty.”
In addition to the five employees with arrest warrants for “double dipping,” the sheriff’s office said it also found that an additional employee was violating the law.
According to the sheriff’s office, Deputy Michael Brandon was on light duty for a non-workplace injury and was assigned to the Nassau County Communications and Dispatch Center. However, the NCSO found Brandon was leaving work and going home during most of his shift without notifying his supervisor and without approval, which is against the agency’s policy.
“Deputy Brandon submitted time on his time sheets when he was home and not working. This constitutes theft of time from NCSO and the taxpayers of Nassau County, and official misconduct,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Records showed Blackwell, 39, faces a theft charge along with two counts of official misconduct and is accused of stealing between $750 and $5,000.
The men arrested were listed without mugshots on Thursday on the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office inmate page but were later removed for unknown reasons.
Holmberg of Fernandina Beach was named Patrol Deputy of the Year in 2022, according to the sheriff’s office website.
According to the sheriff’s office, the total amount stolen from NCSO and taxpayers is $14,007.86.
Leeper said all six employees involved in this investigation were given the opportunity to accept a pre-trial diversion disposition by the State Attorney’s Office; however, only Brandon accepted this disposition, resulting in the serving of arrest warrants for the remaining former employees.
Sheriff Leeper released the following statement following the arrests and termination of the sheriff’s office deputies.
“While I sincerely appreciate the years of service of each of these employees and the sacrifices each has made while protecting and serving our community, especially as the law enforcement profession becomes increasingly difficult and dangerous, I am deeply disappointed in the actions of these former employees. Each and every employee of NCSO must be held accountable and I expect professionalism and integrity of all employees, at all times. I have changed our policy and procedures from conducting random audits of employees who engage in secondary employment to now auditing every employee who engages in secondary employment, to prevent this from occurring again in the future. NCSO is blessed to have, and cherishes, our relationship with our community and vows to continue our mission of professionalism, honesty, integrity, accountability, and transparency.”
Sheriff Bill Leeper
“It certainly is one of the fundamentals that you can lose a pension for,” Hackney said. “So, if you’ve worked you’re entire career and do this towards the end of it, and the city wants to pursue this, you can lose everything you put into that pension over something like this.”
In Hackney’s nearly 30 years of experience with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, he said “double-dipping” happened on occasions but wasn’t prevalent during his time.
“There are a lot of checks and balances in the system to prevent that from happening,” he said.
