KEY WEST, Fla. – A scathing Monroe County grand jury report into a wide-ranging narcotics theft scandal centering around the county fire department’s air ambulance program — leading to four indictments — sharply criticizes county officials for lacking “integrity and accountability” and fostering a “caustic and cronyistic environment.”
The grand jury has indicted four people on a series of felony charges: Trauma Star Chief Flight Nurse Lynda Rusinowski; Dr. Sandra Schwemmer, Monroe County Fire Rescue’s former medical director; MCFR Division Chief Andrea Thompson; and Roman Gastesi, a prominent figure in the Florida Keys as the longtime, former county administrator.
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MCFR runs the Trauma Star program.
According to the grand jury’s report, released on Thursday, the investigation into the drug diversion began on July 26, 2022, after MCFR notified the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office that numerous vials of narcotics were unaccounted for and Rusinowski, 58, of Pompano Beach, admitted responsibility. She’s facing felony charges including grand theft and falsification of documents.
A 2023 audit, the 13-page report states, found “a total of over 600 missing controlled substances likely to have been diverted in just” 13 months. It also found “inefficiencies and inadequacies in the management of controlled substances by MCFR, lack of and deficient performance” by Schwemmer, contracted by county commissioners as MCFR’s medical director.
Integrity, accountability ‘seriously lacking’
The grand jury’s report was blunt in its assessment of county officials.
“Integrity and accountability,” it found, “are seriously lacking in current (and former) MCFR high-ranking administrators and county employees and allowed for a caustic and cronyistic environment and culture to exist for many years within the agency.”
The report continues, “This culture seriously affects the morale of its employees and the delivery of services affecting the life and safety of Monroe County citizens and visitors and must come to a stop.”
County officials fostered an environment of “preferential treatment” and “dysfunctional behavior,” and employees who have gone against it have resigned or have been fired, the grand jury found.
It said officials have failed to follow recommendations in past reports seeking to address various problems within the county.
“Individuals identified as being responsible for various misdeeds have been allowed to remain in their governmental positions, often being promoted to newly created positions,” the report states.
Indicted fire official ‘main architect’ of ‘toxic workplace’
Much of the grand jury’s assessment centered around Thompson and her “personal relationship(s)” with Rusinowski, Gastesi and MCFR Chief Jim Callahan, who has not accused of criminal wrongdoing.
“These relationships have resulted in minimal, if any, discipline imposed on Mrs. Thompson since the first misconduct we heard about back in 2010 wherein, Andrea Thompson, while off-duty, removed medical supplies from the supply room to allegedly treat a volunteer firefighter at their residence,” the report states.
Thompson, 45, of Marathon, headed MCFR’s EMS division and Trauma Star at the time of her arrest on charges including witness and evidence tampering and official misconduct.
Thompson, the grand jury found, “placed her personal friendship” with Rusinowski “ahead of public safety” and “improperly inserted herself in the investigation into the narcotics theft by Rusinowski and thwarted law enforcement’s attempts to discover all the facts and evidence surrounding the crime committed by her friend.”
The grand jury also found that “Thompson was a main architect of the toxic workplace that existed at MCFR, actively participating in intimidation, threats, and coercion to keep those she managed under her control.”
“Yet, Thompson was rewarded for her ‘loyalty and service’ by being promoted multiple times even after she was suspended with pay in connection with her acts as reported by MCSO’s investigation into the theft of the controlled substances by Rusinowski,” the report states.
County administrator scuttled investigation
But the grand jury found that Thompson had friends in high places.
Gastesi and Callahan, the grand jury found, ran cover for Thompson, intervening and stopping the county’s human resources from conducting an internal investigation by an independent firm into the July 2022 incident and, specifically, Thompson herself.
“The popular adage, ‘it’s who you know, not what you know,’ could not be more fitting to describe Andrea Thompson and the obvious cronyism,” the grand jury wrote.
Gastesi “has used what appears to be boundless power and authority in manners not consistent with the best interests of Monroe County as a whole, but rather for select individuals that align themselves with him, or otherwise not against his agenda.”
The 63-year-old Islamorada resident served as administrator, the county’s top unelected position, from 2008 until a February retirement.
“This is not the first time Mr. Gastesi has been a part of a Grand Jury investigation. In 2012, the Grand Jury issued its Official Report calling for the termination of Roman Gastesi as County Administrator for his participation in the theft of County-owned cell phones and iPads by another county employee,” the report states. “Obviously, the BOCC chose to ignore the recommendations of that Grand Jury.”
The grand jury told county officials that a stated plan to rehire Gastesi after a six-month period of unemployment under Florida’s Deferred Option Retirement Program was “unacceptable.”
He had been serving in a “volunteer” position during the interim period.
The report states Gastesi declined two separate invitations to appear in person or remotely in front of the grand jury, which later charged him with official misconduct.
‘Retaliation’ led former fire chief to retire
Callahan, who served as MCFR’s fire chief for 15 years before retiring in May 2021, was succeeded by Deputy Chief Steven Hudson.
Hudson did not last long, and the grand jury said he was forced to retire after an attempt to “implement changes and impose discipline for the July 2022 Rusinowski incident.”
The grand jury found that Hudson, who “requested that the Monroe County Clerk of Court conduct a full and complete audit of the EMS and Trauma Star program,” was “harassed and received multiple threats of retaliation” after trying to clean house.
“Not surprisingly, Chief Hudson received much pushback from the County Administrator Gastesi and certain (county) commissioners,” the report states. “Despite the pushback, the Monroe County Clerk of Court completed the Audit releasing its findings in May 2023.”
But Hudson was no longer with the county by then; he retired in December 2022. Succeeding him after the New Year was Callahan, back in his old position on what was supposed to be a temporary basis, the report states. Callahan remained chief as of Thursday.
However, the grand jury found that Callahan is “out of Monroe County more often than he is in Monroe County,” because Gastesi authorized him to work remotely. The report found that Callahan “typically” only appears in the Keys for monthly county commission meetings.
Longtime medical director lacked oversight
Callahan, grand jurors found, was not the only official spending a significant amount of time outside of the Keys.
Schwemmer, of Boca Raton, “rarely appeared” in the county during her tenure and was not “readily available” to MCFR and Trauma Star personnel when needed, instead choosing to “delegate her various responsibilities” to employees, including Rusinowski and Thompson.
The 72-year-old, who had served as the MCFR and Trauma Star medical director since 1987, wasn’t attending required monthly meetings, the report states.
“Given the multiple incidents involving controlled substances during Dr. Schwemmer’s tenure, the Grand Jury is deeply concerned about the willingness of (county commissioners) to continually renew Dr. Schwemmer’s contracts that regularly increased the amount of compensation she received without any oversight that the terms of the contracts were being complied with,” the report states.
Schwemmer faces one count each of official misconduct, providing false information to law enforcement and altering patient records.
She has pleaded not guilty in the case and her attorney has defended her as someone who has had a “distinguished career in the field of medicine and has faithfully and successfully served the residents of Monroe County for the past 30 years with an unblemished record.”
Her attorney called the charges “totally inconsistent with someone who has dedicated most of her career to improving life-saving medical services in Monroe County and throughout South Florida.”
Grand jury recommendations
The grand jury concluded that MCFR and Trauma Star are “exceptional services that are vital for Monroe County.”
“There are many highly trained, dedicated, ethical, and committed individuals within those programs who take pride in serving Monroe County,” the report states. “The long-standing, underlying problem has been the various individuals placed in leadership roles who have abused the power given to them and created an unhealthy, almost tyrannical environment.”
The grand jury also commended MCFR employees who testified, saying “they exposed themselves to potential retribution and ostracism” and “were especially courageous despite being at risk of severe personal and professional consequences.”
The report states that while the grand jury only indicted four people “whose actions and inactions were criminal and affected the public’s trust and safety, there may be others whose actions are questionable.”
The grand jury made 14 recommendations, including that the county completely and immediately sever its relationships with Gastesi and Thompson and ask Callahan to resign before the end of 2024.
It also recommended that MCFR create an internal affairs division and drug test employees, and suggested that the county develop a new policy for handling employee complaints. The grand jury also recommended more “checks and balances” for the county administrator position.
The grand report ended with a quote from philosopher and Founding Father Thomas Paine: “A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.”
Grand jurors concluded, “We ought not trust those who are unwilling to be accountable.”
County responds
In a news release, a Monroe County spokesperson said that officials are “reviewing all of the recommendations” and plans to discuss them at a Sept. 11 commission meeting in Key Largo.
“We are thoroughly reviewing how our culture operates,” Acting County Administrator Kevin Wilson said in a statement. “We want to make sure we do not repeat any of the past mistakes and ensure that our controls are robust enough not to be circumvented moving forward.”
The county’s release states that officials “took action to improve the drug accounting inventory system and ensure proper controls are in place so similar incidents do not happen again.”
“The additional controls included implementing a computer-based inventory system, installing security cameras and new medical supply safes with biometric locks, and adding additional personnel for quality assurance and oversight,” it states.
The release notes that the county severed ties with Gastesi following his Aug. 16 indictment and has suspended Thompson without pay pending a Friday pre-determination hearing.
It also states that commissioners are “discussing Callahan’s retirement plans with him.”
The release states that the county plans to “review the policies and procedures” regarding employee complaints and whistleblowers and is discussing random drug testing with the firefighters’ union.
Read the full report: