Former Monroe County Deputy Avoids Jail in Deal Over Illegal Database Misuse

A former Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy will escape incarceration after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors to have computer crimes charges dismissed upon successful completion of a pre-trial intervention program. Court documents filed in Monroe County show the deal was finalized July 1, according to reporting first disclosed by TMZ on Tuesday.

Deputy Lamar Roman, 29, of Key West, was arrested in March following allegations that he misused law enforcement databases to locate and track a woman he encountered on the set of the Vince Vaughn streaming series “Bad Monkey,” filmed on Big Pine Key. Roman was terminated from his position shortly after his arrest. The show, based on Carl Hiaasen’s novel of the same name, was in production when the incident occurred on February 3.

Investigators determined that Roman, then 28 and employed as a deputy for approximately six months, initiated contact with the woman after she exited an extras bus. According to Monroe County Sheriff’s Office reports, he made unsolicited vocal advances before the two exchanged names and phone numbers, despite the woman indicating she was in a relationship.

Roman subsequently accessed Florida’s Driver and Vehicle Information Database and the Florida Crime Information Center/National Crime Information Center databases to research the woman and input her license plate into a law enforcement “hotlist” configured to trigger alerts when her vehicle was detected by automatic license plate readers. He then used this information to conduct a traffic stop on U.S. 1. When confronted by investigators, Roman offered minimal explanation, stating he “saw a shiny thing.”

The agreement requires Roman to maintain a two-year period of clean conduct with no contact permitted with the victim. He must pay approximately $1,700 in investigatory and prosecutorial expenses, complete 100 hours of community service, and continue participating in psychological treatment.