They didnt have an arrest warrant, and no charges had yet been filed. I am your sheriff, he said. He stepped out to investigate, and a dozen FBI agents jumped out of the car and the nearby bushes shouting at him to drop to the ground. I really dont care. (Lewis declined repeated interview requests from The Daily Beast. They want the most experienced person to run the largest, most technologically advanced agency in the county. The election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 3 with mail-in voting getting underway in late September. Then on April 29 the operators pointed it to a hosting company based in Iceland called FlokiNET, which marketed secure, stable and anonymous web hosting for journalists and whistle-blowers. As far as Dougan was concerned, they were all culpable. Mar 10, 2023. Dougan places the story in the weeks surrounding his 2016 FBI raid. Ric Bradshaw 'feels good' and 'is going to run' for sheriff in 2024. That was based on the question, Who do you want to make the best decisions for your family, your neighborhood and your safety? Bradshaw told the Town-Crier. After a two-year investigation, I got him. Donahue had been forced to exit the race, and the charges were dropped by election day. They can maybe try to say I encouraged it, but Im not worried about that. Dougan also claimed hed sold the PBSOtalk website to a Russian businessman (he changed his domain registration first, to make it look good) and that he no longer had control over what was posted there. BS Degree, Human Resources Management, with honors, Palm Beach Atlantic University, MS degree, Administration, with honors, Specialization in Emergency Management Lynn University, Administrative Officers Course at the Southern Police Institute, University of Louisville. Send it to The Daily Beasthere. We have to have the ability to listen and understandand we do. The investigations surround claims that the money manager was allowed to arrange for sex while on work-release at his West Palm Beach office. They all needed a taste of their own medicine, and he knew just how to deliver it. Though the sheriffs office had no role in the sentencing, multiple news reports have shown that Epstein was treated more like a guest than an inmate. Sheriff Bradshaw has a successful track record of forty-nine (49) years in law enforcement. Last year, Bradshaw announced that he was ending the seldom-used work-release program for all inmates. Phone:(561) 688-3000 Newsletter Freeman had ups and downs during his time as a police officer in Riviera Beach. Dougan mastered the dark art of fake news, crafting official-looking websites with names like DCWeekly.com and DCPost.org for his made-up stories. And if there was any mistakes made eleven years ago, if there's anybody still here that was working eleven years ago, then we'll address that.". During a recent town hall event to tackle the subject, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw was asked how bad the situation is locally. On the other hand, a lot was known about the owner of the website where the data appeared. In May, according to Dougan, the Kremlins RT network shot video for a feature-length documentary on Dougan. While law enforcement agencies across the country have employed body cameras, PBSO deputies still dont have them. Before he ever came back we had all the pictures., The talk of hacking perked up Jessicas interest even more. Lauro Diaz, the Republican nominee. Reining in pay for civilian employees could be one way for Bradshaw to cut costs,. Hed just gotten his kids off to school when he noticed a suspicious pickup truck with tinted windows idling in front of his house. Raban and Woodside were immediately put on administrative leave. At best, this is irresponsible behavior.. In February of that year, Dougan claims he was contacted online by an anonymous Washington, D.C., whistle-blower with information about the Democratic National Committee. Dougan resurrected the site on a Russian web address. Lewis was certain that Dougan was visiting Russia to partner with that countrys cybercriminals. Dougan had nowhere left to go. I have been endorsed by each organization that has endorsed PBA, AFL CIO and local elected officials and community leaders. Safe Money & Income Radio with Michael & Laura Lehrhaupt, iHeartMedia & Freeman Injury Law Salute to Community Service, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Years ago the Florida legislature recognized two classes of people who might face danger if their home address showed up in the states famously open public records repositories: abuse victims, and government officials like police and judges. Contact Us Deputies escorted him to a sham office. Bradshaw has helped to secure reimbursement for those expenses. (The Daily Beast turned up no evidence of a link between Borodin and Flyman.). Population: 1,492,191 Woodside was fired for using a police PC to watch a movie while on duty, and another deputy was terminated for lying on a police report and surfing Facebook on department time. The late sex trafficker served only 13 months of his ridiculously light, 18-month sentence in the Palm Beach County Jail on work release. The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May sparked protests across the country, renewed questions about the relationship between law enforcement and minorities and even generated calls for police departments to be defunded. Then he laughs. He couldnt just throw them on his website and admit what hed doneFlorida is one of 12 states where its illegal to record a phone call without the consent of both parties. I have served in nearly every position in law enforcement, from patrolman to police chief. Once it was registered, the domain lay dormant for 10 days, according to DNS resolution records from multiple sources. He would look at females breasts, lick his lips, and say umumumum, wrote Nelson. "I've stopped work release altogether until this whole thing has been reviewed and I may not even have work release again because my personal stance is if you get sentenced to a year in the county jail, you need to do a year in the county jailperiod.". Id just had a little girl, my daughter, he recalls. The agents just laughed, Dougan recalls, and sent him on his way. Have you received any other endorsements? Dougan started patrolling Belle Glade in 2008 after four years on easier turf. Dougan discovered a flaw in the system while compiling data for a geo-marketing venture. Sheriff Ric L. Bradshaw is a career law enforcement professional responsible for leading the largest law enforcement agency in Palm Beach . Palm Beach County Sheriff candidates Ric Bradshaw and Alex Freeman. Bradshaw started out good. The Jack Report Southeast Regional Domestic Security Task Force, Chair, Florida Sheriffs Task Force for Region 7, Chair, FBIs Joint Terrorist Task Force, Executive Board Member, Law Enforcement Planning Council of Palm Beach County, Member, Have you ever been arrested, charged or convicted of a crime? If that was the plan, it worked. That wont be true in 2024. Expand. And I talked to him about trying to overturn that Russian adoption law that I thought was not great. Dougan claims he was determined to follow through on his promise, so the following Saturday, he drove a rental car 1,000 miles to Washington, D.C., to meet the whistle-blower outside a high-school basketball court. As Sheriff, I have worked to make the Palm Beach County Sheriffs office one of the nations most professional law enforcement agencies. I never make decisions based on a political party to start with, and I won't going forward.". Now he has a business crafting and selling stylized computer tables with built-in high-performance computers. The feds had evidently bought into Dougans game. There must be real news with real photos on the front of the site so the fake story blends in and becomes believable.. When he talks about his leadership and who has kept Palm Beach County safe for the past 16 years, I question that, Freeman said. And true to his word, once Dougan was safe in Moscow he set up a website called DC Leaks to host them. 2023 Florida Sheriffs Association // Privacy and Refund Policy, "The people of Palm Beach County, and the Sheriff's Office make a great team, which is why Palm Beach County is a great place to live, work, and raise a family. While Bradshaw has not officially announced his candidacy, he told me today, I feel good, and Im going to run.. The elder Freeman was sentenced in 2016 to three years in prison for trying to extort the head of Palm Beach County public schools. Ric L. Bradshaw Biographical Profile and Positions on the Issues. The PBA contributed $25,000 to DeSantis' political action committee. I am called BadVolf, the page announced. He called himself , or BadVolf.. A lawsuit filed by Officer Danielle Nelson describes months of bad behavior toward female officers, ranging from inappropriate comments to repeated unwanted touching and misogynistic slurs. Journalistic and Ethical Standards Dougan didnt appreciate how successful until the morning of March 14, 2016. Dougan says hes now on a track to citizenship. Alex Freeman, who distanced himself from his father, took on Bradshaw in the Democratic Party primary four years ago and got smoked. "People that come to the county jail are supposed to be here for a year or less. Fuck them. We refer throughout this opinion to "Deputy Lin" and "Sheriff Bradshaw" individually, as each pertinent issue and defense pertains to these defendants separately. During the week he periodically borrows a friends car to drive north to a workshop in Solnechnogorsk, on loan from the owner, who saw Dougan in the news and wanted to help, he says. Shinjuro is an accredited domain registrar that does its own registrations). Jessica didnt exist. A Channel 5 reporter said Lewis sounded more like a modern-day hatchet man than a cop in the recordings. Lifestyle Sheriff Bradshaw has extensive knowledge and training in all aspects of law enforcement with a special emphasis on Domestic Security, Field Operations and community based policing. In Palm Beach County there were about 4,000 homeowners availing themselves of Floridas address confidentiality laws. Dougans sojourns to Moscow started in February 2013. Sheriff Bradshaw, Lauro Diaz Face Off In The General Election, Judge Jaimie Goodman Faces A Challenge From Adam Myron, Minto Partners With Sheriffs Foundation On Off-Road Vehicle For Westlake, New PBSO Captain And PBCFR District Chief In Wellington, RPBs Tuttle Royale Project Continues To Take Shape, Fighting Northlake Annexation Tops ITIDs Agenda. But his story is full of holes. I serve in this position because of my experience and the trust that I have earned from other national and regional law enforcement agencies. His tale ends with a big reveal that wont surprise anyone familiar with the deep lore built up around Russiagate on the alt-right. As far as the body cameras, were thrilled to death, he said. He wasn't working for the government any more, but he owned businesses, and he was looking for another business to partner up with, says Dougan. In 2012, Dougan revealed that Bradshaw had spent nearly $1,000 of taxpayer money taking campaign donors to lunch, a revelation that earned Bradshaw a rebuke from a state ethics commission. Creepy.. An Internal Affairs lieutenant named Dean Johnson was eventually charged with four felonies for allegedly leaking information to and about Dougan (he later copped a misdemeanor plea), but Dougan himself emerged unscathed. The leak put Dougan back in the news. Richs grieving parents have faced threats and smears for debunking the speculation, and struggle daily with what Richs mother has described as the pain and anguish that comes from seeing your murdered son's life and legacy treated as a mere political football.. Politically speaking, it is the equivalent of trying to climb Mount Everest without rope. He rose through the ranks of the West Palm Beach Police Department and in 1996 was appointed Chief of Police. Since winning his first term in 2004, Bradshaw has not faced a credible opponent. Jack has written for the Sun-Sentinel and the Boca Raton News. With PBSO seeking $740 million, a $31 million increase, in next years budget some including Freeman question whether Bradshaw is using cost as an excuse to keep his deputies from employing technology that, in other places, have provided piercing snapshots into police misconduct. We provide them with the best equipment, the best training, the best technology, which translates into the best service for the public, he said. Lewis read a lot into the Borodin lunch. Weve taken significant steps to ensure that our policies are identified as best practice, but we dont stop there. Do you want the person with the most experience, has done the job and has proven himself over 16 years as the sheriff and has executive experience in actually running major law enforcement organizations? In a majority-Democratic county, Bradshaw is a Democrat who enjoys support from key Republicans. In one incident that year, one of Rabans deputies, Michael Woodside, pulled over a woman named Maria Paul, put her in a chokehold and slammed her to the ground, according to a subsequent lawsuit that the county settled, before dragging her in handcuffs to the back seat of his cruiser and punching her repeatedly in the face and body. According to Bradshaw, thats not whats going to happen. 0:00. Further discussion is warranted on this issue. Russias not my fight, he explains. The DC Leaks domain name was really registered two weeks after Dougans arrival in Moscow, just as in his story. Hed learned, for example, that the FBI was working with the sheriffs office against him, at least according to Lewis telephonic pillow talk. Our policies and practices have to be sound, fair, clear, and understood. Early release of inmates in not my decision and is up to the Chief Judge and the State Attorney. Antisemitism has been on the minds of local authorities as the number of incidents being reported has been going up. Jan 2005 - Present18 years 4 months. Bradshaw is also speaking out, for the first time, about the controversy surrounding late businessman and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's time in jail. He commented, in explicit terms, about the sexual attractiveness of the women he encountered on the job, the lawsuit alleged. When Dougan traveled abroad, Lewis was able to electronically monitor his quarry from the comfort of Palm Beach County, even seeing the photos Dougan snapped before they appeared on Facebook. In early April he borrowed a car from a friend and a wig from his mother. The city is dealing with community outrage over the death of a 13-year old boy on a dirt bike as he was running from police and the Florida Highway Patrol has found the officer was not at fault. If this is what you call experience, then no thanks, he said. Bradshaw did not exaggerate during his interview with the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board that the department he took over 16 years ago was pretty much in shambles. The previous sheriff was an incompetent leader who favored buying expensive toys such as the law enforcement version of an armored personnel carrier over maintaining public safety. But Bradshaw never has been shy about pushing a big budget and has noted that sheriffs can ask the governor to overrule county commissions. It was so convincing that Bradshaws office had to issue a denial, leading to a cycle of real news headlines like Sheriff Bradshaw Wrongly Accused of Telling Boynton Residents to Run Over Protesters?, There are rules to making good fake news, Dougan learned. Other Political Experience; Florida Sheriffs Task Force for Region 7, Chairman ; He also defended his agency against the critique that it allowed convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to participate in a work-release program in 2008 that permitted him to be out of jail for six days a week, 12 hours a day. Seth Rich conspiracy stories are most virulent of the narratives purporting to exonerate Russia of interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, and by extension clear the Trump campaign of collusion. But the next day the FBI came and carted off Dougans computer, and with it the leaked files. Sometimes called Muck City for the slimy run-off from the local sugarcane farms, Belle Glade is best understood as a developing-world-style shantytown plunked down 40 miles west of Mar-a-Lago. Asked why the DNC emails were never published on DC Leaks, he seemed genuinely taken aback. Dougan and Bradshaw exchanged blows for years. Bradshaw is a politician, not a sheriff. I made it here to Russia on April 6 or 7, he says. I have commanded two of the largest law enforcement agencies in the county with the West Palm Beach Police Department as Chief and now as Sheriff. PBSO seeking $740 million, a $31 million increase, in next years budget, to pay $6 million of a $22.5 million verdict won by Dontrell Stephens, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. This time hes claiming he had a hands-on role in the most notorious computer espionage incident in history: the 2016 leak of thousands of emails and documents from the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign. A fake-news site is nothing without real news, he wrote recently. Hes saying that now. Privacy Policy How would you assess PBSOs response to the coronavirus at the jail, in terms of arrests, and in protecting employees? Dougans Facebook timeline contains a curious artifact from his first trip. Epstein, a well-connected billionaire who was found hanged in a Manhattan jail cell last year after federal officials charged him with additional sex crimes, paid for the deputies who monitored his movements while he was out of jail. Dougan says hed reached out to Borodin in advance of his trip, primarily because he wanted to meet as many interesting people as possible on his first visit to Russia. Bradshaw took 61 percent of the vote to Freemans 39 percent. Editors note: Sheriff Bradshaw completed this questionnaire for the Democratic primary in August. Freeman, who is Black, is making a direct play for voters questioning law enforcement these days. He claims the company had long been his preferred choice for hosting his whistle-blower sites. DeSantis' move comes as Sheriff Ric Bradshaw has come under increasing scrutiny for his decision in 2008 to give Epstein, . In this contemporaneous telling, Dougan had gone to Moscow to do business. Comment Policy Bradshaw advanced to the general election after defeating retired Riviera Beach Police Major Alex Freeman in the Democratic primary. The man who burned down his life in a crusade against someone he regarded as a corrupt despot now lives free only by the grace of the Putin regime. A Florida cop turned hacker who fled to Russia to escape the FBI claims Seth Rich leaked him DNC documents. Like a bad version of Miami Vice, he wrote, where you drive a blacked-out Toyota Corolla and dont catch any of the bad guys.. County Mayor Dave Kerner was a favorite to become the next Sheriff. Photo: Getty Images. On Saturday, the day after my home was raided, I took a rental car and drove to the nearest Russian embassy, located in Washington, D.C. About the election: Early voting will be from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 3 through Aug. 16 at 18 locations; election day polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Aug. 18. (Ditto above). His office provides the local security detail when President Trump visits Mar-a-Lago. Sports agent Marc Roberts, a Miami nightclub owner and developer, and his family have poured $16,000 into Bradshaws campaign. Similarly, when Bradshaw ran four years ago, the office faced a wave of lawsuits from deputy-involved shootings. Hillsborough County, Address: 3228 Gun Club Rd. Its like when your friend robs a bank and you're sitting at home. Back then he said he created DC Leaks to help elect Trump; today he claims it was to expose the DNC for sandbagging Bernie Sanders in the primaries. He believed the sheriffs office was whitewashing the whole affair, punishing Raban and his deputies with technical violations to satisfy the public, while glossing over the police brutality at the heart of it all. He told Jessica that Borodin was related to a shadowy figure called Flyman. For about a decade ending in 2007, Flyman had led the Russian Business Network, a notorious cybercrime group that operated its own server farm. Its like magic, he said. Palm Beach County. As a police officer for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office in Florida, Mark Dougan witnessed endemic corruption, misconduct, and brutality for six years. Our in-house medical unit all follows the same process with our correctional staff. Voters granted confidentiality in Florida are listed without names or addressesjust their Florida voter ID number. The Russian capital felt free and ungoverned, a place where you could get away with almost anything, as if the internet itself had suddenly transformed into a major metropolis. Some of the protesters who hit the streets this spring in the aftermath of the Floyd killing complained that Bradshaws deputies were less willing to work with them than were West Palm Beach police. Bradshaw said hes proud of how his deputies handled the protests. An attorney representing victims has said Epstein engaged in improper sexual conduct while he was in the program. Dougans trick was to cross-reference that number against previous versions of the data, stepping back month by month until he found the same voter not yet protected as confidential. (The voting records leaks appear not to have included abuse victims, who have a higher level of protection under a state-run program.). As a bonus, hed been treated to a full briefing on the departments quest to silence his website and throw him in jail. So Bradshaw and 15 of his top executives will be working on their own 10,000-square-foot floor at DiVosta Towers, he told 1290 WJNO radio in July. He said the department is now nationally recognized.. But they dont feature at all in Dougans story. I would love to run into him in a dark alley, said Lewis. DC Leaks published a completely different assembly of leaks, consisting primarily of a grab bag of emails and documents sourced from a GRU-linked phishing campaign earlier that year. Thats precisely what Dougan did, for every confidential address in the county. Bradshaw said he is not opposed to having his deputies use body cameras, but he has noted the cost, currently estimated to be about $19 million. "He's on. Dougan stands by his story about registering the domain through the Malaysian hosting firm Shinjuro. Dougan expected nothing but ass-covering from the sheriffs office anyway. ROYAL PALM BEACH, Fla. - Palm County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw expressed outrage last week, saying that the murder-suicide at a Royal Palm Beach Publix could have been avoided if someone came forward . Yes, in Palm Beach County 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016. For more information about Diaz, visit www.diazforsheriff.com. Thats why I created the Mental Health Unit that employs civilian social workers and mental health professionals that respond to calls from the community that need this type of service. I was pissed off, says Dougan. PBSOtalk hosted countless false accusations about Bradshaw and other PBSO brass, some of them vile, and at one point a fake pedophilia confession appeared under the fraudulent byline of a top department official. Freeman denied the allegations. The agents had a search warrant to seize all his electronics and any and all records, data or materials pertaining to the computer networks of 24 different Florida county governments and confidential property records within these counties.. In the early morning of March 14, 2016, the hunt for a Russian hacker brought FBI agents to a condominium complex in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. She broke into an elaborate story about a suspicious woman whod become involved with her wealthy father, and asked Lewis if he could help investigate the woman. While Diaz is campaigning on a platform of transparency and fiscal responsibility, Bradshaws platform is based on his past performance and decades of experience. Due to term limits, Kerner, a Democrat, and a former police officer would have to give up his seat on the county commission in 2024. What I dont have is 50 years of experience in reckless spending and arrogant behavior, such as providing special treatment to convicted pedophile sex offenders, like [Jeffrey] Epstein, or like losing important evidence in critical cases, or abandoning the troops to move to a high-priced executive office building to lead from the rear instead of the front, all on the backs of the taxpayers and their hard-earned money., Diaz added that Bradshaws leadership is based on political influence more than experience. Shootings have declined significantly. The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office leadership is using their totalitarian authority to commit vast numbers of crime to investigate and persecute [sic] its political enemies.. All rights reserved. Finally, on Dec. 29, 2008, Dougan resigned from the force, firing off a flurry of pseudonymous emails to department brass on his way out, with screenshots of the Facebook posts and a photo of Raban in his punishment cap. Leaks from George Soros Open Society Foundation were also displayed prominently at the websites launch, with some of the documents reportedly altered to create the appearance the foundation was secretly financing Russian opposition candidates. The election will be held Tuesday, Nov. 3 with mail-in voting getting underway in late September. The warrant sought evidence of communication between Dougan and Internet user BadVolfs Russian moniker. Rule two: Set up an RSS aggregator to continuously pull and post stories from authentic news outlets. And this is where his story hits another snag. Issues: Argues it's time for a change in leadership at PBSO, citing community distrust of the department and its handling of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In order to succeed, we need the support of our community. We have in place an initial screening of anyone arrested and constant care while in custody. Then I registered DC Leaks and uploaded the documents and gave the guy the credentials.. Freeman knows how high a mountain hes attempting to climb. Rodriguez did not respond to repeated emails and phone messages). All in all, a successful bit of trolling. He was fired in 1998 for lying during an internal investigation, but he later won his job back after a hearing officer determined that the firing could not be justified because the police departments lawyer only relied upon hearsay evidence. A PBSO deputy shot and wounded a man wielding two knives at a Boynton-area shopping plaza, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw says. He picked a cool hacker name inspired by his childhood love of wolves, and set up a page at a Russian web host. Dougan claims that he registered the DCleaks.com domain name through the Malaysian company Shinjiru Technology in Kuala Lumpur, where DC Leaks was also hosted.