Legal Troubles in Florida

There's trouble in Tallahassee, and the FBI is on the case.
Photo CC-BY-NC-ND Steven Martin

It’s been a difficult few years in Florida, as several FBI investigations have cast a negative light on the Community Redevelopment Agency in Tallahassee, various county commissioners, and even the mayor himself. While the investigation of the county commissioners did in fact lead to indictment and conviction for those involved (on charges of bribery), the unconfirmed Tallahassee investigation—and the requests for Mayor Andrew Gillum’s emails—are ongoing.

In the summer of 2006, developer Sean Michaels had meetings with local business people and elected officials regarding his plans for land development in the area. He told county commissioners that it was his job to “take care of” any problems his company, Gideon Development, LLC, might face in trying to build in the area.

After a lunch meeting, a zoning official mentioned to Michaels that he and the two commissioners “prefer cash.”

Much their chagrin, it turned out that Michaels was actually an FBI undercover agent who recorded their conversations and later busted them for accepting bribes to the tune of $10,000. All of the involved officials were indicted, and all but one served jail time.

While the FBI hasn’t confirmed it, a similar investigation appears to be taking place right now in Tallahassee. Developer Mike Miller put himself in situations not unlike Michaels and has since disappeared from the scene. Not long after Miller quit the scene, the FBI served subpoenas on the city and the Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), demanding records from as far back as 2012.

“I assume they’re following the classic methodologies of getting all the evidence they can, pinpointing who in the universe of potential witnesses is most likely to have a combination of relevant knowledge and willingness to cooperate,” said Miami lawyer Kendall Coffey.

According to Coffey, prosecutors in a potential case have a variety of options when it comes to potential public corruption charges, including honest services fraud (an attempt to withhold honest services from the public), mail and wire fraud, conspiracy, Hobbs Act violations (breaking a law against racketeering in labor disputes), bribery, and more.

Meanwhile, the Tallahassee Mayor’s Office and the CRA have released about 90,000 documents on request of the FBI. The documents detail events and meetings over the past two years from January 2016 through March 2017. While very few of these missives are directly related to the subpoenas, the timing is certainly awkward, and the FBI has declined to comment. It remains unclear who the actual target of this investigation is.