Sheriff Gualtieri Terminates Five Corrections Deputies For Misconduct (25-133)
PINELLAS-Sheriff Bob Gualtieri held a press conference to discuss the termination of five corrections deputies after two separate and unrelated misconduct incidents at the Pinellas County Jail.
The first incident the Sheriff addresses occurred on August 11, 2025, when Deputy Jovan Hardwick was working as a detention deputy supervising an inmate housing unit in the Healthcare Building of the Pinellas County Jail when an inmate with mental health conditions refused to remove their hands and arms from the food trap in the cell door.
Deputy Hardwick retrieved a can of Lysol out of his personal backpack and sprayed the inmate in the face through the open food trap. Deputy Hardwick then slammed the Lysol can onto the inmate’s hands in an attempt to gain compliance.
During the investigation, Deputy Hardwick lied multiple times regarding the events that took place contrary to what video evidence showed.
The second incident occurred on May 15, 2025, and involved Lieutenant Jason Franjesevic, Sergeant Keri-Lyn Colosimo, Corporal Emmanuel Nomikos, and Deputy Katherine Cantrell while they were working in the booking area of the Pinellas County Jail.
A female inmate, who was arrested for disorderly conduct, was wrongfully deemed uncooperative and placed in a cell with no toilet while handcuffed and shackled after being held in a transport van with no bathroom for three hours. Due to not having a toilet, the inmate proceeded to pull her jail issued uniform pants down and urinate into the floor drain. Due to the inmate being handcuffed behind her back and shackled, she bent over in a position where her buttocks and genital area were exposed while trying to pull up her pants.
At this time, Deputy Cantrell took a photo of the inmate on her personal cellphone. After taking the photo, it was sent to multiple people including Sergeant Colosimo, displayed on one of the booking computers by Corporal Nomikos , and a printed copy was shown to the inmate by Lieutenant Franjesevic. During this time, disrespectful and derogatory remarks were made by all parties involved while laughing about the situation.
As a result of these two separate investigations, the Administrative Review Board determined that Deputy Hardwick, Lieutenant Franjesevic, Sergeant Colosimo, Corporal Nomikos, and Deputy Cantrell violated Sheriff’s Office policy and have all been terminated from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Gualtieri stated, "I'm disgusted and let down. It's awful that people would treat other human beings like this. We have a responsibility to treat people fairly and with respect and dignity regardless of what they've done. All five of these deputies, by what they chose to do, have forfeited their right to serve as deputy sheriffs and work for the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office."
View the full press conference here: https://youtu.be/23vnyPp_0g4
Additional Information:
Jovan Hardwick (Deputy-Terminated)
Date of Hire: 06/05/2006
Termination Effective: 10/28/2025
Jason Franjesevic (Lieutenant-Terminated)
Date of Hire: 08/07/2000
Termination Effective: 10/29/2025
Keri-Lyn Colosimo (Sergeant-Terminated)
Date of Hire: 10/03/2005
Termination Effective: 10/29/2025
Emmanuel Nomikos (Corporal-Terminated)
Date of Hire: 07/09/2002
Termination Effective: 10/29/2025
Katherine Cantrell (Deputy-Terminated)
Date of Hire: 04/09/2018
Termination Effective: 10/29/2025
