Orange County Major Demoted For Divulging Case Information

A high ranking major of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office who was being investigated for divulging confidential information, not yet made public, in a case concerning the arrest of a 14-year-old boy, has been demoted and suspended, a release from the Sheriff’s Office said on Monday.

Major Frank Fabrizio of the Special Operation and Investigation Division was the subject of a Professional Standards investigation after it was revealed that he discussed details of the Edwin McFarlane investigation that had not yet been made public, with his daughter Alexis Fabrizio, thereby compromising the integrity of the investigation.  As it turned out, Fabrizio’s daughter posted the information on a popular internet blog site.  According to Local 6, it was not the only incident in which the same blogger had posted details of high profile cases of Sheriff’s office investigations on the internet.

The release from the Sheriff’s Office today said that, following the Professional Standards investigation of Fabrizio, a charge of Unsatisfactory Performance was sustained.  Fabrizio has elected not to appeal the findings of the investigation which took effect July 18.

Fabrizio has been demoted to the rank of Captain and received 120 hours of suspension without pay. He has been immediately assigned to the Court Services and Communications Division, the release said.

See Report of Professional Standards Investigation of Frank Fabrizio Here

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings had earlier written to the State Attorney, requesting that all formal charges against McFarlane not be brought and all charges were subsequently dropped.

Meanwhile, Demings announced the promotion of Captain Patricia Wells to the rank of Major.    She has replaced Fabrizio and will assume the responsibilities of the Special Operations and Investigations Division.  Wells has been serving for 29 years and was most recently the Captain overseeing the Youth Services Section for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.