The former top county executive who was indicted and arrested last year on a felony charge of official misconduct will not, it turns out, be prosecuted — as long as he behaves himself.
Roman Gastesi, the former Monroe County administrator, was indicted in August 2024 amid a drug scandal and coverup involving the 2022 theft and loss of more than 600 vials of fentanyl, dilaudid, ketamine and other drugs from the Trauma Star air ambulance service, which is run by Monroe County Fire Rescue.
“Mr. Gastesi is accused of knowingly and intentionally obstructing, delaying or preventing the communication of information relating to the commission of a felony that directly affected the government entity he served,” stated an Aug. 16, 2024 press release from the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office.
The grand jury’s report, released in late August 2024 following the indictments, states, “What is certain, through the testimony of the various witnesses, is that Mr. 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. Most recently, Roman Gastesi intervened and stopped HR and Employee Services from conducting an internal investigation by an outside firm of the July 2022 incident and more specifically Andrea Thompson. … Mr. Gastesi must never hold any position with Monroe County.”
If convicted of the third-degree felony, Gastesi could have faced up to five years in prison, five years of probation, and a fine of up to $5,000.
But Gastesi won’t be prosecuted for the alleged crime, as long as he abides by the rules outlined in a pretrial intervention agreement that he signed on Aug. 5 of this year.
Gastesi agreed to “12 months supervision,” during which he will report monthly to a county probation officer. After three months, he can ask the state attorney to end his probation early as long as he has completed a required ethics class, performed 50 hours of community service and donated $500 to each of two local charities. Gastesi also agreed he “will not use intoxicants to excess,” while under supervision, according to the agreement, which emphasized the words “to excess,” without defining it.
In addition to the two $500 donations, Gastesi must pay $1,420 in court and investigation costs, and $50 for each month of his probation.
“The State Attorney’s Office agrees to (dismiss) the charge(s) in this case after the time set forth in this agreement if the defendant has completed all the terms and conditions of this agreement,” the pretrial document states. “If the State discovers that the defendant has violated any law or any part of this agreement during the period of this agreement then the agreement shall be considered null and void and the State of Florida may recommence prosecution.”
Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward declined to comment on the agreement.
“We still have other defendants in that investigation, so no comment at this time,” Ward told the Keys Weekly on Oct. 7.
The Weekly contacted Gastesi for comment, but had not received a response by press time Oct. 8.
The other defendants include former Trauma Star chief flight nurse Lynda Rusinowski and former Trauma Star division chief Andrea Thompson.
Rusinowski in 2023 admitted to stealing drugs and to being addicted to opiates. She faces multiple counts of grand theft of controlled substances and fraud.
Thompson faces felony charges of official misconduct, providing false information to law enforcement, tampering with physical evidence and altering patient records.
Thompson’s and Rusinowski’s cases are still pending before Judge Mark Jones and each has a hearing scheduled for Dec. 4. — Jim McCarthy contributed to this report.
