Alan Mendelsohn was only trying to intercept the unsavory influence money that undermines good government. Then the feds took him down.

Never mind his reputation as a ruthless, money-mongering power broker, able to suborn the public interest with his PACs, fundraising schemes and campaign contributions. Sure, the 51-year-old Mendelsohn did all that.

But the federal fraud charges against the Hollywood ophthalmologist describe a kind of doubleagent, our own secret agent, sabotaging plots to purchase special favors.

Mendelsohn indeed collected gobs of money to influence public policy, purchase political support, shape legislation and head off investigations. Outwardly, he was just another Tallahassee suit using connections and money to virtually overwhelm elected officials. (And relegate the rest of us to an irrelevant heap).

But, according to the federal indictment, Mendelsohn was secretly (the feds prefer the term ``fraudulently'') subverting that devil money from its intended purpose. Money supposed to grease gambling legislation or to head off an investigation of an insurance Ponzi scheme or to warp healthcare policy, went, instead, to a better cause.

Like education.

SAT PREP

Of course, the federal indictment indicates it went to the particular education of Mendelsohn's own children. He diverted influence money -- payments of $35,000 and $25,000 and $10,000 were listed -- to prep his kids for SAT tests. Money went into tuition for his children's private school. And $250,000 became a ``donation,'' to the University of Florida. That bit of altruism was meant to fix his son's way into med school (leap-frogging better-qualified applicants).

Mendelsohn, according to the indictment, used client money to buy a $75,000 luxury automobile. He diverted money into bonuses for his staff. And into a $100,000 gift to himself.

He was an undercover agent in other ways. The federal indictment states, ``Mendelsohn caused approximately $240,000 in additional funds . . . to be paid to his mistress to purchase and paint a personal residence for them and to buy a car for her, among other things.''

Lots of other things. The feds said one of his PACs gave her $150,000. And Mendelsohn sent her $60,000 over two years.

CONNECTION

The feds only stumbled across Mendelsohn's game during their investigation of the infamously sleazy Joel Steinger of Fort Lauderdale, who allegedly thought the good doctor had the political connections (for $1.6 million) to kill an investigation into Steinger's viatical ripoff operation.

Mendelsohn couldn't really stop the investigation. But hey, he's accused of defrauding an even bigger fraud.

If not for the FBI investigation into Steinger, Mendelsohn's alleged diversion of so much influence money would have gone unnoticed. Which says something about the astounding amounts of special interest money pouring into Tallahassee -- that someone could embezzle hundreds of thousands of dollars, pay for his kids' fancy education and set up his mistress, unworried that someone might notice such relatively piddling thefts.

We ought to remember Mendelsohn as the Robin Hood of Florida's political bag men.

With a few nefarious tweaks to Robin's original business plan.

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