Seminole Co. deputy claims coercion by superiors

9 Investigates uncovered a scandal at the Seminole County Jail involving allegations of threats, intimidation and coercion.

Ex-deputy Samantha Swanson accused Chief Deputy Dennis Lemma of strong-arming her into changing testimony she gave during an excessive-force investigation.

Late Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said it’s reviewing Swanson’s complaint, but there is currently no internal investigation.

It stems from inmate Enrique Chapman accusing two deputies, James Llewellyn and William Zayas, of beating him in 2014 after Chapman allegedly called Llewellyn a dog.

Swanson first gave a sworn statement backing the deputies, but she later changed her statement and implicated Llewellyn and Zayas in the beating after she claimed Lemma threatened her job.

Swanson was later demoted and Llewellyn and Zayas were fired.

“We believe that he was wrongly terminated,” said Zayas’ lawyer, Tushar Desai.

The lawyer for Llewellyn said the same in a statement.

Both are battling the sheriff in a hearing Thursday to get their jobs back.

“We just want a fair hearing,” Desai said.

The sheriff’s office declined to speak on the incident, citing the Officer Bill of Rights.

The hearing starts at 9 a.m. Thursday.