By Dan Sullivan and Tony Marrero
Tampa Bay Times
TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister confirmed Monday that all six members of his command staff who have resigned or were terminated in connection to an academic dishonesty investigation had someone else complete assignments for them.
Speaking at a news conference at his office’s Tampa headquarters, Chronister said the internal affairs investigation found that the command staff members had work done for them by Robert Roush. The investigation that began with former Chief Deputy Anthony Collins also led to the departures of Cols. Michael Hannaford and Chris Rule and Capts. Lora Rivera, Zuleydis Stearns and Marvin Johnson.
STAYING ALERT: What officers need to improve situational awareness
“The public’s trust depends on the confidence that we are honest, transparent and willing to hold ourselves accountable when we fall short,” Chronister said. “These actions represent a lapse in judgment and a breach of the higher professional and ethical standards that law enforcement must hold ourselves to.
“Former Chief Deputy Collins, Cols. Hannaford and Rule, along with Capt. Rivera recognized that their actions did not meet this standard. They accepted responsibility and with grave humility tendered their resignations,” Chronister went on. “These decisions were not easy, but they were the right ones. Based on the sustained findings, I terminated the employment of Capts. Stearns and Johnson.”
Chronister said the investigation did not find any criminal actions and that he did not see the need for an outside agency to investigate. He said he added investigators to the internal affairs team to expedite the review.
“We left no stone unturned, making sure that we were extremely thorough,” he said. “We even flew investigators up to New Hampshire to meet with (Roush) and interview him, where he admitted writing papers for every one of the employees involved.”
The office also released more than 6,000 pages of material related to the internal affairs investigation that began in July when Collins’ wife emailed several of his law enforcement colleagues alleging he had enlisted Roush to write papers for him while attending the prestigious FBI National Academy, among other allegations. She attached pictures that depicted portions of emails her husband exchanged with Roush in which the pair discussed assignments and Roush appeared to send copies of papers.
Collins, who was the highest-ranking Black deputy in sheriff’s office history, left in early August. His departure created tensions between Chronister and some leaders of the Black community, many of whom considered Collins a likely prospect to be the next sheriff.
Collins later told the Tampa Bay Times that Roush acted as a tutor, helping edit and proofread his FBI National Academy work. He said he paid him but denied Roush wrote the papers for him.
That explanation contradicted what Chronister said Collins told him. The sheriff said Collins admitted Roush completed about half his work for the FBI program. He publicly called Collins a liar.
Roush also told the Times his work was limited to proofreading and editing. He said he’d helped other cops, too, but declined to name them.
Other than Collins, none of the other former command staff members have commented publicly about their departures.
The Times thereafter made a public records request for emails between Roush and the sheriff’s command staff. The request produced emails from 2021 and 2022 showing Hannaford and Rule sought Roush’s help with work-related written assignments.
Hannaford, the emails showed, communicated with Roush regarding a paper on the construction of a kennel and training facility for the sheriff’s K-9 units. The assignment was his “captain’s project,” a written report addressing a problem within the agency, which deputies complete when they attain the rank of captain.
Rule, the emails showed, wrote to Roush in December 2022 seeking his assistance with assignments for a senior leadership class with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The revelation, Chronister previously said, left him “livid” and spurred a new investigation that ensnared several others as the scandal grew.
Hannaford and Rule both resigned earlier this month. Rivera, a captain in charge of the sheriff’s professional standards division, also quit. Chronister previously said she admitted she paid Roush to write her captain’s project.
Stearns and Johnson were fired last week after the investigation also linked them to Roush.
Chronister took pains Monday to emphasize that he was not condemning his former command staff members because “they are not bad people.”
“They are respected leaders, decorated professionals and compassionate human beings, mothers, fathers, husbands and wives, who have collectively spent decades protected and serving our community,” the sheriff said. “They have responded to emergencies in the middle of the night, comforted victims of tragedy, bridged the gap with our community, and mentored countless young deputies. Their records are filled with examples of courage, sacrifice and honor.
“What occurred here was not about a lack of ability or care,“ he said. ”It was a shortcut, a moment of poor judgment, a choice that, while wrong, was not malicious.”
The departures have resulted in a shuffling of the sheriff’s command staff, with several colonels, majors and captains being promoted or moved to new roles.
Frank Losat, a longtime leader in the sheriff’s office who was previously a colonel in charge of administrative services, took the title of chief deputy in August, replacing Collins.
Col. Richard Roebuck , who leads the office’s Department of Operational Support , has since Hannaford’s resignation taken on the dual role of overseeing patrol operations. A permanent replacement in the patrol division has yet to be named.
Robert Rodriguez, who as a major led the sheriff’s Special Investigations Division, was promoted to colonel and placed in charge of support services, replacing Rule.
Several other high-level personnel have recently been promoted and moved to new roles to replace others who have left in the wake of the scandal.
Asked Monday if there might be other members of the office who used Roush, Chronister responded: “I sure hope not.”
“I know we’ve done everything to try to make sure that I could confidently stand in front of you today and say there is no one else,” he said. “But again, we only had access to a certain amount of information. If there’s someone else, I’m not aware of it. I can tell you that there’s been no evidence presented of anyone else being involved in this.”
This is a developing story. Stay with tampabay.com for updates.
©2025 Tampa Bay Times. Visit tampabay.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
