TAMPA, Fla. – A captain with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has been terminated due to an academic cheating investigation, according to the agency.
HCSO confirmed that Captain Zuleydis Stearns was fired on Wednesday.
An HCSO spokesperson stated that she sheriff is unable to make additional comments until the investigation is complete.
Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
The backstory:
At the end of July, Chief Deputy Anthony Collins resigned four days after the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office received a tip containing the allegations.
Sheriff Chad Chronister said on July 19 that the sheriff’s office received an email from Collins’ wife. In the email, she alleged that Collins had paid someone to help him complete coursework for training classes at the FBI National Academy.
The email contained screenshots of email correspondence between Collins and what Chronister determined to be a “paper writer.” In one of the emails, the “paper writer” stated, “Here is the paper. It meets the guidelines and requirements without focusing too much on the personal.”
Pictured: Former Chief Deputy Anthony Collins with Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister.
The email also included allegations concerning Collins’ personal and family life.
The day after the sheriff’s office received the tip, Chronister said Collins was placed on administrative leave so an informal inquiry could be done. In the meantime, Chronister said he spoke to the 21-year veteran of the sheriff’s office.
“‘Okay, let me find out how egregious this is,'” Chronister said. “On a scale of zero to 10, zero means he completed none of your coursework, 10 meaning he did all of it.’ He told me, ‘At least a five.'”
Chronister said Collins resigned the following day.
The sheriff’s office said it also had to report the matter to the FBI National Academy.
Dig deeper:
On October 17, 2025, Colonel Christopher Rule and Colonel Michael Hannaford resigned in response to an internal investigation.
Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Chronister said that Collins resigned before a formal investigation could be launched into the allegation of academic cheating, but he believes it would have been substantiated based on the evidence.
The sheriff went on to say that the allegation impacts the reputation of the entire agency.
The Source: The information for this article was gathered from the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and previous FOX 13 News reports.