A South Florida air charter company secured a ground ambulance license and a subcontracting role at the new federal immigration facility in rural Baker County just as the detention center opened, according to state records and reporting by Jacksonville Today.
The facility in Sanderson, referred to in reports as “Deportation Depot,” relies on Tropic Air Rescue for urgent medical transportation rather than Baker County Fire and Rescue. Anthony Marinello acquired the Fort Lauderdale company in 2021 after a career as a New Jersey state trooper and mayor of Springfield Township. The enterprise previously moved cargo and passengers to the Bahamas before shifting into emergency rescue work and Haiti relief missions.
That pivot brought Marinello into contact with Robbie Meek, a politically connected emergency management contractor whose company, IRG Global Emergency Management, secured a $40 million state agreement to transport detainees. State tracking records show nearly $38 million has been paid to IRG for its work at the facility, with almost $7 million changing hands on Nov. 3, Election Day.
State records indicate Marinello received his ground ambulance license on Sept. 3, the day after the detention center began accepting people swept up in immigration raids. Tropic Air operates seven licensed ambulances under the license, though Baker County records show personal insurance cards for three vehicles belonging to Access Restoration Services, another company tied to Meek.
The arrangement follows a six-figure political contribution from Tropic Air in October to a political action committee connected to Gov.-elect Byron Donalds. The month prior, Donalds’ opponent, Democratic candidate David Jolly, suggested the facility should be investigated following a critical inspector general report.
Marinello maintained that the political donation had no connection to his work at the detention center, though state records show Tropic Air made no political donations before securing the subcontracting arrangement. He described the move into ground ambulance services as a straightforward business decision.
“It’s called a contract,” Marinello said, according to Jacksonville Today. “We had no reason to have it until we had a reason to have it. That’s what it’s all about. They give you a reason: We want that to happen. So, OK. This is how we make it happen. We get the ambulances, we get the license, and we’re able to proceed with it.”
Dr. Donald Locasto, a former fire department medical director and professor in Cincinnati who serves as Tropic Air’s top physician, stated by phone that he spends half the year in Ohio and the other half in South Florida and holds no concerns about the care detainees receive.
Private aviation and emergency contractors are entering the detention infrastructure as officials increase scrutiny of medical care inside immigration facilities. Researchers writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association have noted that deaths in ICE custody are higher than they’ve been in two decades. Detainee advocates listening to recorded phone calls from the Sanderson facility have reported frequent ambulance sightings, according to translated calls reviewed by Jacksonville Today.
