FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - The former bodyguard and personal driver of Broward Sheriff Scott Israel was arrested Wednesday along with two other deputies.
Troy Wilkins, 49; Reginald Kenneth Arteta, 29; and Alberto Ferreras, 31, are all accused of illegally working security at the Pink Pony strip club in Pompano Beach in their uniforms.
"I have said before that no one is above the law, and there are consequences when deputies cross the line," Sheriff Scott Israel said. "These arrests show BSO is committed to holding employees to the highest standards and proactively addressing misconduct whenever it is discovered." The men are facing multiple charges, including unlawful compensation, official misconduct, felony first-degree tampering with a witness and use of a two-way communication device to facilitate a felony.
According to the arrest reports, the men worked at the strip club from August 5, 2014 to Sept. 2, 2014.
Wilkins' attorney, Tony Alfero, said his client, who was stripped of his badge and gun and placed on desk duty last October, is innocent of allegations that he protected the strip club in uniform at a rate of $500 a night without authorization from the sheriff or anyone else at the agency.
Sources said Wilkins initially came under scrutiny by federal agents who spotted him in the club while they were conducting a separate investigation. After the federal agents realized that Wilkins was a deputy, they informed BSO.
Deputies said Ferreras and Wilkins told witnesses they were being investigated, and said only to tell investigators that the suspect's were at the club, but had never received compensation.
Alfero said Wilkins did go to the strip club with another deputy, but only to help them apply with BSO to get a legal detail from the agency that Wilkins and the second deputy intended to work.
A Pink Pony manager, however, gave a sworn statement to the contrary and produced a $500 receipt with a signature on it to prove that the deputies did work at the club. Alfero denied it was Wilkins' signature.
According to deputies, the men were also paid a bonus for allowing the strip club to remain open past its licensed time of 2 a.m.
All three deputies have since been suspended from the agency without pay, and their Internal Affairs cases remain open.
