> Sheriff's Deputy William D. Maye runs a migrant camp in Wimauma, in an area
> he patrols.
>
> By DAVID PEDREIRA
>
> =A9 St. Petersburg Times, published March 10, 2000
>
> WIMAUMA -- The seven migrant workers live in a battered
> single-wide mobile home in a dusty labor camp.
>
> Two small beds rest on cinder blocks in the living room.
> An aging stove tilts dangerously to the left in the kitchen.
> The home has no air conditioner, no
> heat and no furniture. The floors are plywood.
>
> =46or these amenities, the Guatemalan laborers pay monthly
> rent of $960. When asked who their landlord is, they respond,
> "La policia."
>
> Hillsborough sheriff's Deputy Charles D. Maye, whose patrol
> area includes this largely Hispanic community southeast of Tampa,
> is the landlord for 25 mobile homes rented by migrant workers and
> year-round laborers, county records show.
>
> The Rev. William Cruz, who runs the Good Samaritan Mission in
> Balm, said the tenants at the Mi Amigo's camp on Railroad Street
> are intimidated by Maye.
>
> "He collects his money with his uniform on, and I know that he has
> his gun with him," Cruz said. "Intimidation is something you cannot
> prove, but it is there."
>
> Maye has managed the camp for property owner LeRoy Collins
> since late 1997, records show. They declined to comment on the
> arrangement.
>
> The tenants, mostly migrant laborers from Guatemala and Mexico
> who pick fruit and vegetables, said the typical rent for a trailer was
> $800 or more, with as many as 10 laborers cramming into one mobile
> home during the growing season. Many acknowledge they are illegal
> immigrants with no Social Security cards. In one trailer, seven laborers
> contribute to the monthly rent, each paying about $35 a week, or $960
> a month combined.
>
> While the amount of rent they are charged could pay for a sizable house,
> the tenants said they can't apply for better housing because they don't
> have the required documentation or bank accounts.
>
> "There's nothing else we can do," said 20-year-old Carlos Gonzalez.
> "This is all we can get."
>
> Several tenants interviewed Wednesday referred to their landlord as
> "the sheriff."
>
> Sheriff's officials said they had no reason to think Maye was conducting
> private business on government time. His boss said as long as the
> work is legal, the Sheriff's Office has no reason to intervene.
>
> "The man is doing his private business on his time and how he conducts
> that, as long as it doesn't affect the Sheriff's Office, is up to him,"
> Maj. Larry
> Terry said Monday.
>
> While Maye's jurisdiction includes Wimauma, Terry said the deputy does
> not handle calls at the camp.
>
> "If he was dispatched to a place where he owns or rents property, he would
> notify someone. He wouldn't handle that call," Terry said.
>
> Wednesday afternoon, however, a uniformed Maye showed up at the camp
> in a patrol car and ordered a St. Petersburg Times reporter and a worker fro=
> m
> the Balm mission off the property.
>
> "This is character assassination," Maye said. "Leave the property now or I'l=
> l
> have you arrested for trespassing."
>
> Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said Thursday that Maye was
> scheduled to be on duty when he arrived at the camp.
>
> "We have a policy that says you will in no way get involved in your own
> personal issues," Carter said. "We're going to look into it to see if any
> policies or procedures were violated."
>
> Before ordering the reporter from the camp Wednesday, Maye said he
> had improved or replaced all the mobile homes since becoming the
> landlord.
>
> "You don't understand what these people do to this place," he said.
>
> County health officials said things have improved since Maye took over.
>
> But they noted the living conditions are far from ideal. During a January
> inspection, health officials found broken screens and windows, debris,
> water leaks, roach infestations and holes in the walls of some of the
> homes.
>
> The department didn't issue a fine or warning but ordered Maye to fix the
> problems by the next inspection.
>
> Gregg Rottler, environmental supervisor for Hillsborough's health
> department, said he was surprised to learn a deputy was running
> Mi Amigo's. "I've wondered about it myself," Rottler said.
>
> Maye, 45, began his Florida law enforcement career in 1982 as a
> Tampa police officer. In 1983, while chasing a burglary suspect,
> Maye tripped and accidentally fired his handgun. Internal affairs
> investigators said Maye tried to hide the fact that his weapon had
> discharged and repeatedly lied about it to his superiors. An acting
> major recommended that he be fired. He resigned in October 1984.
>
> Hired by the Sheriff's Office in 1985, Maye has received more than
> two dozen letters of commendation for his actions while on patrol.
>
> But in 1993, he was formally reprimanded for committing a "simple
> battery" on a female convenience store clerk while on duty, his
> personnel file shows. The file doesn't elaborate.
>
> - David Pedreira can be reached at (813) 226-3463 or
> pedreira at sptimes.com.