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FDLE's Tampa Office Has Vacancy At The Top

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune
and DANIELA VELÁZQUEZ | TBO.com

Published: October 30, 2007

Updated: 10/30/2007 05:07 pm

TAMPA - The Tampa office of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is without permanent leadership after the agent in charge stepped down and his next in command was placed on administrative leave.

Agents in charge of other FDLE offices across the state will fill in on a rotating basis until a new leader is designated, agency spokeswoman Kristen Perezluha said.

Special Agent in Charge Lance Newman, 54, resigned, effective Monday, after working for the FDLE for 23 years. He had been special agent in charge since October 2002.

Newman's would-be successor, Assistant Special Agent in Charge Moses Jordan, was placed on administrative leave with pay Oct. 24. Jordan, who has been in his post since 1998, is under administrative investigation because of allegations he violated department policy, Perezluha said.

The spokeswoman said the two developments are coincidental. "The timing just happened to work out that way," she said.

Tom McInerney, who heads the Tallahassee region, is in Tampa filling in. Perezluha said the department hopes to have the spot filled by mid-November.

Asked how unusual it is for someone of Jordan's rank to be placed on administrative leave like this, Perezluha said, "I cant' recall recently anything similar, but that doesn't mean it's never happened."

Newman was in the agency's Deferred Retirement Option Program. Perezluha said the program allows employees to retire, but work an additional five years. Newman entered the program in May 2004, she said.

Perezluha said she didn't know how much money Newman lost by leaving the program early. His salary was $114,344.

Jordan's salary is $97,448, she said.

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