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Undersheriff Announces Arrest Of JSO Corrections Officer For Insurance Fraud

JSO Undersheriff Pat Ivey
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
/
Via Facebook
JSO Undersheriff Pat Ivey

A Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Corrections officer has been arrested for insurance fraud.

Ronnie Smith is charged with a third-degree felony for an alleged scheme he hatched with two others in April.

Police said he reported his Cadillac stolen from the Orange Park Mall in order to collect insurance money.

Undersheriff Pat Ivey said Friday the scheme began to unravel after the car was spotted in July in Clay County.

“I’m hearing he was a good employee. Remember this is something he did in his personal life, but remember we’re held accountable in that. This don’t make me sad. This is he did wrong, he’s held accountable and we continue to move on in the mission that we have. I’m not sad over this one at all.”

Ivey said Smith resigned after the arrest.

The other two people involved in the alleged insurance fraud are still under investigation.

Smith is the eighth JSO employee to be arrested this year, compared with 10 in all of last year.

Contact Jessica Palombo at 904-358-6315, jpalombo@wjct.org or on Twitter at @JessicaPubRadio.

Jessica Palombo supervises local news gathering and production, podcasts and web editorial content for WJCT News, ADAPT and Jacksonville Today. She is an award-winning writer and journalist with bylines including NPR, Experience Magazine, and The Gainesville Sun. She has a master’s degree in broadcast and digital journalism from Syracuse University and is an alumna of the University of Florida. A nearly lifelong resident of Jacksonville, she considers herself lucky to be raising her own children in her hometown. Follow Jessica Palombo on Twitter: @JaxJessicaP