monroe county veteran florida keys deputy arrested · miami herald. he was arrested on 30 counts of...

18NE SUNDAY JULY 19 2020NEIGHBORS MIAMIHERALD.COM

A veteran Monroe Countysheriff’s deputy turned him-self in Tuesday on chargesthat he illegally accessed theFlorida driver’s license data-base, as well as another statecrime database, to conductthousands of backgroundchecks for security personnelat an exclusive gated commu-nity in Key Largo, accordingto his arrest report.

Specifically, Lt. ThomasKiffney is accused of runningpeople’s names through thestate Driver and Vehicle In-formation Database — orDAVID — in connection withhis full-time job at Ocean Reefresort, an ultra-wealthy en-clave located at the northernend of Key Largo, his warrantstates.

At the time, Kiffney hadretired from his full-time jobas a deputy, but was still onthe department as a reserveofficer, which gave him accessto law enforcement databases.

Along with the DAVIDsystem, Kiffney is also ac-cused of illegally accessing theFlorida Department of LawEnforcement-maintainedFlorida Crime InformationCenter, or FCIC, as many as1,368 times over a two-yearperiod, according to the Mon-roe County Sheriff’s Officearrest warrant obtained by theMiami Herald.

He was arrested on 30counts of accessing a comput-er electronic device withoutauthorization, according to thewarrant, which states he ac-cessed DAVID 2,923 timesbetween January 2018 andApril 17, 2020.

Ocean Reef fired Kiffneyearlier this year.

A source familiar with theinvestigation said the majority

of the background searchesKiffney is accused of con-ducting were for visitingdayworkers and vendors toresort.

Kiffney, 53, retired fromthe Monroe County Sheriff’sOffice in 2018, but signedback on as a reserve deputyin January. The same month,he was hired to commandOcean Reef’s security staff.

As a reserve deputy, he stillhad access to the DAVIDsystem, sources said. Howev-er, it is only legal to access thesystem for law enforcementpurposes — not for the benefitof a private client such asOcean Reef to check on thebackgrounds of visitors.

Kiffney is well known notonly as a law enforcementofficer in the Keys communi-ty, but also as the owner of afirearms and indoor gun rangeon the Overseas Highway inKey Largo.

Kiffney’s lawyer, John Ja-bro, said Tuesday afternoonthat he just received a copy ofthe warrant, but at firstglance, he said it does notappear his client broke thelaw.

“I don’t think there’s anyviolation of the law here,”Jabro said. “I don’t knowwhat’s motivating this.”

As of Tuesday afternoon,Kiffney was being held incounty jail on a $75,000bond.

Monroe County State At-torney Dennis Ward alsodeclined to comment.

The sheriff’s office and theFlorida Department of LawEnforcement began investi-gating the case in April, ac-cording to the warrant. Ac-cording to a sheriff’s officepress release issued Tuesdayafternoon, Sheriff Rick Ram-say ordered the investigationafter Ocean Reef came to himwith concerns that Kiffneycould be illegally using the

datatbases forhis back-groundchecks.

“Though Iam saddenedto see a lawenforcementofficer endtheir career

this way, I will always work tohold those who break the lawaccountable, especially whenit means policing our own,”Ramsay said in a statement.

Ocean Reef did not imme-diately return a request forcomment.

Kiffney served full time atthe sheriff’s office from April1992 to January 2018. Hissalary when he retired was$93,562.27, according to thesheriff’s office.

He signed back on as areserve deputy in January.That job ended June 13, ac-cording to the sheriff’s office.

According to the warrant,the Ocean Reef CommunityAssociation, which runsOcean Reef, hired Kiffney asits public safety security com-mander in January 2018. Hesoon found out that the asso-ciation was looking for acompany to conduct back-ground checks on people whoenter Ocean Reef, the reportstates.

Kiffney told his bosses heknew of one called Back-ground Executive BG, LLC,owned by a man namedTravis Phillips.

ORCA staff soon discov-ered Kiffney’s name was alsoon Background ExecutiveBG’s articles of incorporationfiled in May 2018. Kiffney toldhis bosses that was an over-sight by his accountant, andhe removed his name andfiled a resignation letter fromthe limited liability company.Phillips was then listed as themain contact person, accord-ing to the warrant.

Sheriff’s office DetectiveBernardo Barrios wrote in thereport that “It should benoted” that KIffney andPhillips shared the sameresidential address in Home-stead, and one of Phillips’cars was listed to a residentialaddress in Springfield, Ten-nessee, where Kiffney alsoowns a home.

The sheriff’s office discov-ered that from May 2018 toMarch 2020, Kiffney usedhis department-issued laptopto access DAVID and FCICfor Background ExecutiveBG, Barrios wrote.

“Kiffney was misusing thelaw enforcement databases,DAVID/FCIC, to performlocal checks when individualswould enter Ocean Reef toobtain a driver’s licenseinquiry and or wanted personchecks,” Barrios stated. “Theinformation would then beprovided to E/B, the back-ground company that provid-ed a service to Ocean Reef.”

This went on for about twoyears, according to the war-rant, before ORCA firedKiffney “for his actions” inMarch.

Soon after, the sheriff’soffice told him he was underinvestigation and he resignedfrom the department in June.

Speaking to deputies, Phil-lips denied to detectives thathe knew Kiffney was runningbackground checks on peoplelinked to Background Exec-utive BG. He said he metKiffney about five years ago,and that Kiffney helped himget his business started.

Phillips, who could not beimmediately reached forcomment, generated 23invoices from Ocean Reeffrom May 2018 to March2020 totaling $131,916, ac-cording to the warrant.

Miami Herald staff writerCharles Rabin contributed tothis report.

MONROE COUNTY

Veteran Florida Keys deputy arrestedBY DAVID GOODHUE AND

JAY WEAVER

[email protected]

[email protected]

ThomasKiffney


If you’re looking forkid-friendly entertainmentin a place with no humidityand nary a mosquito, FrostScience Museum has youcovered.

The Phillip and PatriciaFrost Museum of Science inMiami recently opened itsnew permanent exhibit.Titled “Power of Science”and the first new perma-nent exhibit since the mu-seum opened three yearsago, the exhibit displaysthe potential of scienceusing new technology,completely transformingthe Ocean Gallery space onthe museum’s groundfloor.

Also, there is air condi-tioning. Do you need toknow more?

Developed in a part-nership with the Universityof Miami, “Power of Sci-ence” offers interactiveexhibits and rare speci-mens in four areas: OurOceans, Our Environment,Our Bodies and OurUniverse.

Speaking of oceans, giantgrouper stans can have ablast at the museum, too.Here are some of the otherexhibits on display:

“Worlds BeyondEarth”: The new FrostPlanetarium show openstoday and is narrated byOscar winner LupitaNyong’o.

“Rarely Seen”: The newNational Geographic photoshow runs through Sept. 7.

“Goliah GrouperAquarium Exhibit”:Learn about a really big

fish — really big and therole it plays in Florida’secosystem.

“Sharks: On Assign-ment with Brian Skerry”:More National Geographic

photos from award-win-ning photographer BrianSkerry (through Aug. 9).

“Solar System & Be-yond”: Check out themuseum’s north wing for

this journey through thesolar system. Yeah, wekinda wish we were outthere right about now, too.

For admission to mu-seum, you must have areservation and ticket for aspecific time.

PHILLIP AND PATRICIA

FROST MUSEUM OF

SCIENCE

Where: 1101 BiscayneBlvd., Miami

Hours: 9:30 a.m.-6 p.m.“Power of Science”

exhibit opens: FridayAdmission: $22 for

adults and children 3 andup; kids under 2 and mem-bers free. Must reserve aticket online athttps://www.frostscience.org/plan-your-day/

Connie Ogle: 305-376-3649,@OgleConnie

MUSEUMS

Frost Science Museum’s new scienceexhibit will take you to new world

BY CONNIE OGLE

[email protected]

BRIAN SKERRY Brian Skerry

“SHARKS: On Assignment with Brian Skerry” open at Museum through August 9.

BENCE MÁTÉ National Geographic, Costa Rica

A green-crowned brilliant hummingbird and a green pitviper look eye to eye. The snake hangs delicately from abranch as the hummingbird hovers midair in attack. Theshowdown captures an eternal dance between predatorand prey.

SUNDAY JULY 12 2020 NEIGHBORS 29NEMIAMIHERALD.COM

monroe county veteran florida keys deputy arrested · miami herald. he was arrested on 30 counts of...

Documents