FDLE Agent Only Gets 5-Day Unpaid Suspension For Mortgage Fraud. She Allegedly Made False Statements On Ex-Husband’s Mortgage Application

A Key West-based FDLE agent who led the agency’s investigation into the Key West Police Department’s in-custody death of Michigan tourist Charles Eimers in 2013, had been suspended with pay since November 2014 following allegations of mortgage fraud, received a five-day suspension without pay from Aug. 10 to 14 after her agency completed its internal affairs investigation on the matter.

“The internal investigation is closed, the outcome was a sustained violation of member conduct and unbecoming conduct,” FDLE spokeswoman Molly Best told KeysInfoNet

The agent involved in the alleged mortgage fraud, FDLE Agent Kathy Smith, divorced former Key West police officer Scott Smith in 2009 but allegedly signed mortgage papers with him in 2010 saying they were still married.

The Monroe County State Attorney’s Office did not press charges, citing the statute of limitations.

Kathy Smith, who makes $93,634 annually, led the agency’s investigation into the Key West Police Department’s in-custody death of Michigan tourist Charles Eimers in 2013.

Police pulled the 61-year-old over at a North Roosevelt Boulevard traffic stop on Thanksgiving 2013. The retired automotive worker fled the stop in his PT Cruiser and led officers on a chase that ended up on South Beach, where he was taken into custody on the sand.

Eimers died Dec. 4, 2013, at Lower Keys Medical Center. The FDLE and a grand jury did not press charges against police or issue any indictments.

The Eimers family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city and several police officers last year, eventually agreeing to settle with the city’s insurance carrier, Preferred Governmental Insurance Trust, for $900,000 this past January.

However, in April, the Justice Department said in a letter to Citizen Review Board Chairman Michael Behrend that it is investigating whether the Key West Police Department violated Eimers’ federal civil rights.

Kathy Smith, who makes $93,634 annually, led the agency’s investigation into the Key West Police Department’s in-custody death of Michigan tourist Charles Eimers in 2013.

Police pulled the 61-year-old over at a North Roosevelt Boulevard traffic stop on Thanksgiving 2013. The retired automotive worker fled the stop in his PT Cruiser and led officers on a chase that ended up on South Beach, where he was taken into custody on the sand.

Eimers died Dec. 4, 2013, at Lower Keys Medical Center. The FDLE and a grand jury did not press charges against police or issue any indictments.

The Eimers family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the city and several police officers last year, eventually agreeing to settle with the city’s insurance carrier, Preferred Governmental Insurance Trust, for $900,000 this past January.

However, in April, the Justice Department said in a letter to Citizen Review Board Chairman Michael Behrend that it is investigating whether the Key West Police Department violated Eimers’ federal civil rights.