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Closed Arson Investigation Part of Accusations Against Carroll

July 13th, 2012 by flanews

More tonight on the court filing full of salacious allegations against Florida Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll. Along with the claims of sexual misconduct, as Whitney Ray tells us, there are also claims, from the fired Carroll employee who filed the document, that she was the target of a fire started at the state capitol.

This is evidence of a fire that could have set the state capitol ablaze. The pictures are part of a closed FDLE arson investigation. In this report Beatriz Ramos, a travel aide for Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll, admits to starting the fire.

Ramos is also accused of carrying on an inappropriate relationship with Carroll. The allegations are all part of a court filing in the case of Carletha Cole. Cole is a former web designer for Carroll who was fired for telling reporters the office was in disarray.

After Cole was fired, she leaked this illegal recorded audio that was supposed to expose chaos in the office. She was arrested and charged with a felony.

Audio Recording From Summer 2011
John Konkus, Carrolls Chief of Staff: I knew it was going to be trouble.
Cole: Do you know why?
Konkus: Because we are not leading.

Her attorney is fighting back. He says Cole was targeted by Carroll and Ramos because she caught the two in “a compromising position.” After the alleged incident Cole claims she was regularly harassed and Ramos set her trashcan ablaze.

“The state attorney’s office should conduct a real investigation, ask real questions about the arson and determine whether or not it was inadvertent or intentional,” said Steve Webster.

According to the FDLE Report, Ramos smoked a cigar here, just a block from the state capitol. After taking a few puffs, she extinguished the cigar, wrapped it in a paper towel. Walked back to the Capitol and threw it away in Cole’s trashcan.

We retraced the most direct path to the capitol. If Ramos took this route, she would have passed five trashcans and an ashtray before entering the building.

Four days after the fire, Ramos told her story to an FDLE agent. No charges were brought, the evidence was destroyed and one day after the case was closed, Cole’s attorney says Carroll wrote this letter of recommendation for the investigator.

Cole’s attorney claims the fire and the closed investigation proves his client was targeted and that Carroll had enough pull to have criminal charges brought against Cole. We asked FDLE about the allegations and the arson investigation. They issued this written response.

“With the responsible party stepping forward and absent any other evidence or suspicious circumstances we found her (Ramos) statement credible and determined this to be an accident. However, if there is a witness with additional information, we encourage them to come forward,” wrote Gretl Plessinger, FDLE Directory of Communications.

Carroll is standing up to the allegations

Carroll has responded, calling her accuser a lair. She went on the radio telling a WOKV reporter quote, “They aren’t even allegations, they’re outright lies.” Carroll went on to say she and her husband have a healthy sex life.

“My husband and I have a very healthy and exciting relationship for 29 years and I don’t need to seek satisfaction anywhere else. And I have sought council and any further questions on this matter I will be referring to my attorney.”

Her attorney responded in an oncamera interview.

“It’s one of those situation where Carletha Cole is facing felony charges, it’s a third degree felony punishable up to five years in prison and she is going to say what she can in order to get out of those charges, would be my guess,” said Soud.

And finally the Florida Federation of Republican Woman is coming to Carroll’s aid. Their president wrote a letter saying the Lieutenant Governor is the quote “victim of a vile, vicious and ludicrous attack from a disgraced former employee.”

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