New documents show Sheriff Pearson's appointment wasn't as sudden as it seemed

I've been working for months to find out how and why Keith Pearson was appointed St. Lucie County Sheriff in December 2023 after the abrupt retirement of former Sheriff Ken Mascara.

Law enforcement officials, the state's attorney and county Republican Party leaders criticized the selection, prompting me to seek an explanation from the governor's office.

In a letter sent to sheriff's office employees, Mascara said he was resigning for health reasons.

But emails I recently obtained through a public records request from the governor's office show that Mascara's retirement and Pearson's appointment may not have been as abrupt as Pearson suggested .

I requested emails from the governor's office in December. The request was fulfilled in May.

In emails sent to me, I found a clearer timeline for when the governor's office and appointments staff began reviewing Pearson. I also saw the reaction of dozens of people living in St. Lucie County who wrote to the office to express their disappointment in this appointment.

Pearson's appointment was officially announced in a press release from the governor's office on December 1, 2023.

A few days later, on December 4, Pearson granted me my first interview since becoming sheriff.

I asked Pearson, “Did you see this coming?”

He responded that he was surprised and touched by this decision. “I was driving on Midway Road about 30 minutes before the governor's press release was issued. The phone rang. I thought it was a number I didn't recognize. I thought it was going to be about extending my car warranty, but it was the governor's office and they congratulated me on your appointment as St. Lucie County sheriff,” Pearson said .

I also asked Pearson if Mascara told him he planned to retire early, to which Pearson replied, “No, he didn't.”

Since that December 4 interview, I've been trying to figure out how Pearson's name rose to the top of the list to be chosen as sheriff nominee. He was a lieutenant at the time and, for some reason still unknown, he was chosen from among the majors or captains of higher rank.

In that interview, Pearson also told me, “Transparency will be our number one goal that we work toward. »

But despite that statement, getting more answers from him or the governor's office is proving difficult. This is why we have made numerous public records requests.

In the documents I just reviewed, I found that the ball was rolling to verify Pearson's nomination no later than November 21, 2023. Alex Kelly, the secretary of the state Department of Commerce who was also chief of the governor's acting office sent a brief by email. containing Pearson training, education, awards and recognitions.

On November 27, FDLE confirmed that a background check on Pearson was conducted at the request of the governor's office.

By November 29, communications staff in the governor's office were already drafting the announcement of Keith Pearson's appointment, which was then released to the media on December 1.

I tried to ask Pearson if he knew the governor's office was reviewing his personnel files and conducting a background check more than a week before his appointment.

On Wednesday, I called and texted the public information officer at the sheriff's office, and went to the sheriff's office to see if Pearson was available for comment. The public information officer did not respond to my calls or text messages. An employee in the sheriff's office lobby said neither Pearson nor the spokesperson were in the building or available for an interview.

Documents given to me by the governor's office also showed 34 letters from people living in St. Lucie County, former law enforcement officers and more than a dozen people who are members of the St. Lucie County Republican Executive Committee, sent during the month. first week of Pearson's appointment.

Each letter expressed concerns about Pearson's appointment, calling the decision an “ill-advised appointment”, a “mistake” or that “a more qualified candidate should have been selected”, for example.

Numerous letters also indicate that they did not support the nomination due to an FDLE investigation that questioned Pearson and Mascara for their alleged role in supporting a shadow candidate in the 2020 election to help Mascara run. get re-elected. The FDLE recommended criminal charges, but a prosecutor in another judicial circuit declined to file charges.

One of the people who wrote a letter was Mike Monahan, a former longtime deputy with the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office.

“There are certainly other people in the county who were much more qualified to be 'interim' until there was an election. I just don't think Keith belongs in the position.” Monahan said.

I contacted at least a dozen letter writers who told me they never received a response from the governor's office regarding their concerns.

But we know the concerns have been received. An email sent by staffers in the governor's office shows they shared links to news articles about the nomination. One staffer wrote that “many letters of concern” were arriving at the governor’s office.

I also contacted FDLE and the governor's office again on Wednesday, including the office that handles nominations, to ask again if they wanted to detail how Pearson was selected for nomination and when that process began.

I still haven't had a response.

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