CLAY COUNTY, Fla. — The State Attorney who had Clay County Sheriff Darryl Daniels arrested Thursday released a 50-page executive summary of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation that led to his arrest.
The report summarizes the yearlong probe, which found Daniels lied and destroyed evidence while under investigation by law enforcement, largely to protect his 6-year affair with Cierra Smith, a former subordinate, from coming to light.
The report alleges Daniels:
- Used privileged law enforcement databases to research the girlfriend of Cierra Smith’s estranged husband
- Lied about it under oath to investigators
- Illegally had his own officers arrest Cierra Smith
- Asked his own IT personnel to give him a new phone and wipe his old phone of all data. Said the phone contained “information that is not going to be shining a favorable light on me, uh, just delete it.”
- Told the IT employee, “There’s something on here that doesn’t need to see light.” The employee told FDLE, “I assumed there were text messages or something you know some sort of app or something that was used to communicate with the girlfriend. That’s what I assumed.” The IT worker said Daniels' unusual request caused “concern all around” so they did not wipe the phone, but instead kept it intact until FDLE took custody of it.
- Deniels asked IT to delete his phone content when asked by FDLE. “They would be lying,” he told FDLE. He said he swapped out his phone because it was “running slow.”
- Removed the sim card and deleted numerous apps before turning the phone in, including Kik Messenger.
The report includes some text exchanges between Daniels and his mistress.
On Thursday, Daniels rejected an option by Special Prosecutor Brad King to resign immediately and receive deferred prosecution, or refuse and face full prosecution. On Friday, Daniels was suspended by Gov. Ron DeSantis. On Tuesday, he faces a crowded primary in his bid for reelection.
Daniels denies wrongdoing. His attorney Matt Kachergus said, "I find the timing of the obtaining of a warrant and pressing of charges suspicious in light of an election that's pending five days from now. It would appear that the timing of this is designed to influence the outcome of that election."