JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One day after the I-TEAM reported that the second in command at Jacksonville International Airport circumvented security rules to allow a Jacksonville Airport Authority board member carry a suitcase containing thousands of dollars in cash aboard a plane to Las Vegas, the I-TEAM learned that that chief operating officer was suspended for three days.
That incident in 2011, and the suggestion there others over the following few years, were investigated in 2015, but remained private until the I-TEAM got a tip about the whistleblower complaint that prompted the investigation.
Documents obtained by News4Jax on Thursday showed that the incident where COO Tony Cugno admitted to bypassing security to allow board member Ernie Isaac to carry an unscreened bag onto a flight was investigated by the Inspector General's Office and by Homeland Security, but the U.S. attorney's office declined to prosecute.
While Isaac was replaced as a board member shortly after Mayor Lenny Curry took office in 2015, Cugno is still COO. Among his responsibilities is security at JAX, as well as the city's three smaller airports.
Other board members said they had only learned of the incident recently from the head of the union representing airport police. One board member told the I-TEAM he was made aware of it several years after it happened -- after the feds and airport officials decided not to take any action.
Issac told News4Jax on Thursday that it only happened once and it in involved several thousand dollars of his own money. He would not explain why he did not take it though security, nor why he had Cugno do it for him.
Cugno also admitted to federal investigators that the exchange happened once.
The Transportation Safety Administration does not prohibit large amounts of cash to be carried aboard domestic flights, though TSA said passengers might be subject to extra scrutiny. But bypassing security is a clear violation of TSA reulations.
Former Jacksonville Fire Chief Ray Alfred was on the board at the time and still is. He says he is not worried about what happened.
"We were satisfied that it had been investigated and there was no prosecution, so the board kind of left it alone. We were assured it was taken care of," Alfred said.
Another board member, Terri Davlantes, said she fully supports Cugno. She was told by staff the issue has been resolved, though she would not say when she first learned about it.
Former JSO Undersheriff Frank Mackesy, also a JAA board member, said he only learned of it within the last two weeks. He added that he also supports Cugno.
Don Green, the union representative for airport police, said four others who worked various jobs at the airport lost security privileges for bypassing security. He believes a similar punishment should have been handed down to Cugno.
"There has got to be some accountability," Green said.
The I-TEAM has asked for two days to speak to Cugno and to see his personnel file, but late Friday, the airport issued a new statement that gave a little more detail about the ethics complaint and the inspector general's investigation that followed. That statement said that the matter was concluded without any action by either the IGO or the TSA, but that Cugno was suspended for three days without pay and ordered to undergo retraining on TSA and JAA security procedures.
"Following these actions, the JAA considered this matter closed," according to the statement.
Other than Cugno's training, the JAA would not comment on whether any security changes have been made since the complaint was filed in 2014.
News4Jax has also asked for documents on Homeland Security's investigation, but the federal government had not responded by Friday afternoon.