By Cristóbal Reyes
Orlando Sentinel
SANFORD, Fla. — A 23-year veteran and former spokesperson for the Sanford Police Department was arrested Tuesday after being paid thousands of dollars for allegedly fake off-duty work shifts.
Ronny Neal, an investigator in SPD’s Professional Standards unit, was charged with 79 counts of official misconduct. That’s one for each alleged instance of fraudulently submitting timesheets containing off-duty work at Lofts at Eden apartments between October 2023 and July 2024.
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Neal, 49, was also charged with organized fraud, accused of swindling taxpayers of $12,640, according to an affidavit filed in Seminole County court. He had resigned Dec. 10, but Chief Cecil Smith reversed it Tuesday and instead fired him from the agency once a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Neal was jailed at the John E. Polk Correctional Facility on a $150,000 bond.
“I can’t tell you how pissed off I am to be betrayed by someone who sits at the hand of the chief, in a position of the greatest trust in our organization,” Smith told reporters Wednesday. “And he betrayed not only me personally and professionally, but betrayed the men and women who wear the badge and represent this community.”
“I will tell you directly. I absolutely do not know who Ronny Neal is,” Smith added.
Typically, when Sanford officers are hired to provide security or perform other duties in their off-hours, the department pays the officers for that work and then seeks reimbursement from the hiring party.
The investigation leading to Neal’s arrest began after SPD’s finance department in July 2024 discovered a number of accounts where vendors appeared not to have reimbursed the department. Neal, who also served as off-duty detail coordinator, was asked to turn over invoices from those accounts, but many — in particular those from Lofts at Eden paying Neal for off-duty work — remained unresolved by the time the police administration was made aware of the issue in August of this year.
By November, Smith said, the remaining unresolved accounts became a criminal matter, and in the course of the investigation it was determined that Lofts at Eden never had a contract with Neal. On Dec. 9 Neal was placed on administrative leave. Following Neal’s arrest, Smith moved to transfer information about off-duty work details to the finance department, as officers were previously tasked with tracking and reporting that work in addition to issuing invoices.
Smith, tasked with reforming SPD’s reputation when he became chief in 2013 following the killing of Trayvon Martin, did not offer an explanation for Neal’s conduct, citing an ongoing investigation.
However, he said it was possible because of the autonomy Neal was afforded in his role at the Professional Standards unit, which investigates reported wrongdoing by officers and is “one of the most trusted positions within the organization.”
Special Agent in Charge Felipe Williams of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement told reporters the agency is joining the investigation into Neal alongside the Secret Service to conduct a deeper dive into Neal’s finances and his conduct while at SPD.
No other officers have been accused of wrongdoing.
“With our resources and with our assistance, we’re committed to assisting the chief on this journey,” Williams said. “FDLE is currently reviewing the case for additional charges. This is an active and ongoing investigation, and we cannot comment any further at this time.”
In his time at SPD since being hired in January 2003, Neal worked patrol, was assigned to investigate general and major crimes, served as a public information officer and as a SWAT operator.
“He also was … our lie detector guy,” Smith said. “Imagine that.”
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