DeSantis donor Kent Stermon dies in apparent suicide during probe: report
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A prominent ally of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis with unprecedented access to local authorities and reportedly under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct has died in what is being investigated as a suicide.
Kent Stermon, 50, of Jacksonville, was found dead in a truck parked outside the Atlantic Beach post office around 8 p.m. Thursday, the Florida Times-Union reported.
Stermon had been reported missing by his wife, Christie, after his heart monitor stopped earlier that day, the First Coast News reported.
Shortly after the discovery of his body, police announced they were investigating his death as a suicide.
Stermon was under investigation for alleged sexual misconduct at the time of his death, law enforcement sources told the Times-Union.
Speaking to the outlet last week, Sheriff T.K. Waters of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Stermon was the subject of an “active investigation” at the time of his death, but did not provide further details on the nature of the probe.
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Stermon’s attorney, David Barksdale, did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Stermon loomed large in local Jacksonville politics, as a generous supporter of Mayor Lenny Curry and former Sheriff Mike Williams.
He had a swipe access card to the sheriff’s office headquarters and other locations, which he used hundreds of times over the last five years, news station WJXT reported.
A spokesperson from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office told First Coast News that Stermon’s card was rescinded when Waters took office in late November, and the mega-donor “had been informed” of the decision.
In a statement to The Post, the Jacksonville Mayor’s Office attempted to distance itself from the situation.
“The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is an independent, county wide elected office,” the comment read. “JSO operations are separate from the City of Jacksonville and neither the City, or its Mayor, have any control or input regarding badge access.
“Mayor Curry continues to express deep concern and profound sadness for Mr. Stermon’s widow and their young daughter throughout this public ordeal.”
The defense contractor behind Total Military Management, Stermon also sat on the state university system’s Board of Governors. Records show that he and his wife made frequent contributions to Florida GOP candidates, including a $50,000 gift to a political action committee tied to DeSantis.
On Friday, DeSantis’ office said the governor and his wife were “shocked and saddened to hear of Kent’s passing.” A spokesperson also told Politico that the couple were unaware of the investigation into Stermon’s behavior.
Stermon’s ties to the state’s top lawmaker go back several years. In 2018, Politico reported that the then-congressman stayed in a condo co-owned by Stermon after being exiled from his district by redistricting in 2016.
“You wouldn’t have Ron DeSantis as governor without Kent Stermon,” Florida politics reporter A.G. Gancarski told First Coast News. “He was big with everything … in the state party.”
In the wake of Stermon’s death, some law enforcement veterans questioned the ethics of his seemingly unchecked access to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
“It was common knowledge to not only myself but to many employees that Mr. Stermon had high-level security access privileges to JSO facilities for years,” former sheriff’s office candidate Lakesha Burton told First Coast News.
“He made his heavy involvement in the inner workings and politics of the agency well known to all ranks.”
“You give that badge to the wrong person, and they’re connected to somebody out there who is doing the wrong thing, then you can walk in the building, do what you want to do and go back and give them information,” retired sheriff’s office detective Kim Varner concurred.
“John Q. Citizen can’t walk in there and get a badge to come in and leave when he pleases, so I do think that creates an issue.”
Another sheriff’s office retiree, James Brown, told WJTX that Stermon’s reported level of access surpassed even that of former officers.
“Access is controlled and limited to sheriff’s office staff. Retirees are given that access, but even that access is limited,” he explained. “It would raise a suspicion of, why would that person be given that type of access?”
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