KISSIMMEE, Fla. — New court documents are revealing multiple state and law enforcement agencies received complaints about the ex-cop-turned felon who 9 Investigates exposed working as a security officer inside a Kissimmee neighborhood, well before our stories first aired.
Investigative reporter Karla Ray questioned Joseph Conover back in September 2019. Within 48 hours of the first story airing, the case was assigned to a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services criminal investigator. But that investigator’s warrant affidavit shows the regulatory arm of the FDACS received a complaint about Conover back in July 2019, and nothing was done.
Conover took a plea deal in North Carolina after being accused of making false arrests and attacking people while an officer under that state’s company policing law.
Conover is now facing charges of impersonating a security officer. His longtime girlfriend and boss, Sherry Raposo, who owns Management 35 Firm, was also arrested on charges related to hiring Conover for the job without proper licensing.
Before the complaint was made to regulators, the court records show in May 2019, a resident reported that Conover was pulling people over inside the community to the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office.
Residents also contacted the community control officer assigned to monitor Conover as part of his North Carolina sentence. The court record states, “The Community Corrections Office received a complaint that Conover was acting in the capacity of an armed security guard and had been seen carrying a firearm. A search of Conover's vehicle was conducted at the Kissimmee Community Corrections office that same day, but no firearm was located. They did locate flashlights and a radio indicating to him that Conover was performing security work. No search of Conover's house was ever conducted.”
Conover and Raposo are both out on bond. Court records show they were instructed not to return to the scene of the alleged crime, but they live inside Turnberry Reserve.