After months of investigation and interviews led a grand jury to issue felony criminal indictments of three Key West city department heads, the grand jury’s full report was released on Thursday, May 29, and it is scathing.
The report describes, “a pervasive culture of negligence, nepotism, manipulation and abdication of duty at the highest levels of city leadership.”
The 29-page report outlines the steps taken by the 16-member grand jury during its investigation into alleged corruption and criminal wrongdoing in city government.
Grand jury indictments in April led to the arrests of former Key West city attorney Ron Ramsingh; his brother, Raj Ramsingh, who was the city’s chief building official, and former code compliance director Jim Young.
Ron Ramsingh, the attorney, was terminated without cause in April. Raj Ramsingh has been indefinitely suspended without pay pending the results of an internal city investigation. Young retired days after his April 15 arrest.
Each of the three men was initially indicted and arrested on April 15 for tampering with evidence after deleting or altering or withholding text messages that had been subpoenaed as part of an ongoing investigation.
Ron and Raj Ramsingh were subsequently re-indicted on additional charges.
Raj Ramsingh faces seven counts of official misconduct for allegedly falsifying building permits, closing permits without inspections being done and in some cases issuing a permit when one had previously been denied by another department. Raj Ramsingh additionally operated his own construction company, Stryker-Avery Homes, LLC while also working as the city’s chief building official, where he approved and issued his own company’s building permits in at least one instance.
His brother, attorney Ron Ramsingh, faces one count of official misconduct for allegedly “interfering with the reporting of a felony committed by his brother,” the additional indictment states.
Summary of a scandal
“What started as an investigation into possible Sunshine Law violations and various malfeasances of elected/charted officials and department heads rapidly developed into a wide-scale, multi-faceted investigation uncovering a network of nepotism, fraud, dereliction of duty and various criminal acts,” the grand jury report states.
“Over the course of more than six months, the State Attorney’s Office, along with agents from the local FBI office conducted numerous interviews of past and current city employees. Subpoenas were issued for bank records, phone records, as well as a list of public records from the city of Key West. …
“The … evidence converged to create an inescapable picture, one that could not be unseen: A pervasive culture of negligence, nepotism, manipulation and abdication of duty at the highest levels of city leadership. The existence of a disheartening pattern of public officials failing to discharge their sworn responsibilities, ignoring obvious red flags – even when public safety, fiscal accountability and democratic transparency were on the line.
“The investigation uncovered a complete ‘dereliction of duty’ (invoking the full weight of its legal and moral implications) by several individuals. And most brazen, the cavalier criminal acts of several for personal gain, or gains for those within the ‘boys’ club.’”
The report also explains that the investigation — and subpoenaed text messages — were prompted by the June 2024 firing of former city manager Al Childress, who had commissioned a review of the building department under Raj Ramsingh. That 55-page review, known as the Corradino Report, revealed glaring concerns about Raj Ramsingh’s actions in his role as chief building official.
“But the withheld texts revealed far more than just misconduct in not providing them, but a broader, calculated plot,” the grand jury report states. “This was not merely an issue of transparency. It was an orchestrated removal of (city manager) Childress, carried out to protect a corrupt inner circle entrenched in fraud, nepotism and cronyism, shrouded in the toxic culture of a ‘Bubba System’ (used here to mean a deeply rooted network of people in which rules are bent to ensure a mutual continued success) loyalty and the dangerous mentality of ‘the boys having each other’s backs.’”
“What the evidence demonstrated was due to City Attorney Ramsingh’s overwhelming unchecked power and influence, he, along with his brother and others were able to create a ‘false shield’, a toxic bubble of protection, enabling the misconduct while silencing other city employees and manipulating city officials,” the report states.
The grand jury recommended a complete, third-party audit of all building permits and construction projects that involved Raj Ramsingh and revisions of city whistleblower and permitting protocols.
“Separate from CBO Ramsingh’s altering, changing or deleting (building permit information in the software system), and/or circumventing reviews and inspections, five properties revealed a windfall in terms of revenue generated for Strykker-Avery Homes, LLC,” the report states.
“In just five construction jobs, CBO Ramsingh’s construction company’s gross revenue exceeded $1.9 million. Moreover, the evidence showed in a few of these projects, CBO Ramsingh was the one to approve the permits and furthermore neglected to require inspections,” the grand jury report states. “One can only wonder how many more properties/permits chief building official Ramsingh’s company has worked on, and he supplemented his CBO income with. It is the grand jury’s hope that the fraudulent course of conduct, having now been revealed, a further investigation is conducted and steps are taken by city leaders to prevent all of this from ever happening again.”
Commission & management criticism
The grand jury report is scathing in its descriptions of the activities it investigated and the actions and nonactions taken by current and former city employees and elected officials. Following a description of the investigation and findings, the grand jury makes several recommendations to city leaders, including that Commissioner Lissette Carey and assistant city manager Todd Stoughton, neither of whom has been criminally charged, resign from their positions.
The report states that Carey’s testimony revealed that she allowed attorney Ron Ramsingh to intimidate and coerce her into removing the Corradino Report from a city commission agenda so it would not be discussed publicly.
“According to Commissioner Carey she advanced this directive as a result of intimidation and coercion from city attorney Ramsingh when he revealed the mention of her family in the Corradino Report. Yet, she still failed to read the report to gain her own understanding of the impact to family, but more importantly, her constituents,” the report states. “Whether it is a lack of understanding the role, duties and responsibilities the position of a city commissioner entails, she has not demonstrated the wherewithal and convictions needed to serve in this capacity.”
With regard to Stoughton, the report states, “Testimony and evidence received by the Grand Jury revealed that Todd Stoughton’s close relationship with Ronald Ramsingh, Raj Ramsingh and Jim Young, the three indicted defendants, skewed his ability to think and act objectively, instead prioritizing the relationships over implementing real change. Whether by choice or unduly influenced by the professional and personal relationship with the three indicted defendants, Todd Stoughton’s inability to do his job impartially when it came to addressing issues with chief building official Ramsingh was a contributing factor to the ongoing toxic environment created with the permitting process.”
When contacted for comment by the Keys Weekly Thursday evening, Stoughton wrote in a text message, “The only thing I’ll say for now is that I disagree with (the grand jury’s) assessment and recommendation for me.
In response to the grand jury’s recommendation that she resign as a city commissioner, Lissette Carey on May 28 sent a letter to assistant state attorney Colleen Dunne. Carey shared the letter with the Keys Weekly Thursday evening, writing, in part,
“At this time, I will not be requesting the removal of the Grand Jury’s recommendation as it relates to me personally. … I respectfully disagree with the statement in the grand jury report, that … ‘Whether it is a lack of understanding the role, duties, and responsibilities the position of a City Commissioner entails, she has not demonstrated the wherewithal and convictions needed to serve in this capacity.’
“I have a thorough understanding of the role of a City Commissioner, having served the City of Key West as the Assistant to the Mayor and Commissioners for five years, and subsequently as Senior Deputy Clerk for three years,” Carey wrote. “I take my responsibilities seriously and invest significant time in researching matters that come before the Commission. … I believe it is unjust to characterize this single instance as reflective of my overall performance or commitment to my duties. … I remain committed to serving the people of District IV with integrity, dedication, and transparency.”
The report also derides former city commissioners Jimmy Weekley, Clayton Lopez and Billy Wardlow, stating “it became apparent that the citizens of Key West were not being served to the best of all the commissioners’ and public officials’ abilities. Turning a blind eye to items and tasks that may cause conflict or unpopularity and putting minimal effort in their role as a commissioner/public official is an insult to the citizens who put their faith and trust in their role as a leader.
“For example, the grand jury learned that not all commissioners ‘did their homework’ prior to making important decisions and instead relied on the opinions and suggestions of others. One blatant example is the demonstrated apathy towards the Corradino Report by former commissioners Jimmy Weekley, Billy Wardlow and Clayton Lopez, who admitted they either did not read or did not thoroughly read the report.
“It became obvious that in the twilight of former commissioners, they failed in regard to their duties and responsibilities to the city commission and their constituents. The fact that they did not give any consideration and diligence in thoroughly reading and digesting the Corradino Report and its implications continued the toxicity present in the Building and Planning departments and allowed the continuation of the criminal misconduct of the chief building official.”
Weekley, Wardlow and Ron Ramsingh did not respond Thursday evening to the Keys Weekly’s requests for comment. Former commissioner Clayton Lopez replied to a text message, but declined to comment until the case goes to trial, writing, “I’d rather wait until I know my comments will not harm anyone or create for myself any legal jeopardy.”
Raj Ramsingh replied to a text message seeking comment, saying his attorneys would submit a statement to the Keys Weekly on his behalf. The statement had not been received as of press time, but will be added upon receipt.
