Another indictment for former House Speaker Ray Sansom
BY ALEX LEARY
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
TALLAHASSEE -- A grand jury investigating Ray Sansom's ties to a Panhandle college issued a second round of indictments Wednesday, accusing the ousted House speaker of lying about a developer's plans to store aircraft in a taxpayer-funded building.
The felony perjury charge is based on newly surfaced documents, including an e-mail Sansom received from the college president indicating that developer Jay Odom, who was also indicted Wednesday, would use part of the facility.
''Jay and I agreed that the project is to be held close until after your actions and until after we receive guidance from you,'' president Bob Richburg wrote to Sansom in April 2007 -- with a subject line ``Meeting with Jay.''
The budget lawmakers approved a month later included $6 million Sansom appropriated for the college. Sansom, R-Destin, has insisted that it was his idea and that he did not know about Odom's plans for a taxpayer-funded hangar.
''There is much documentation to the contrary,'' State Attorney Willie Meggs told reporters at the Leon County Courthouse after the perjury indictment was handed down.
''We've developed information that the intent and plan was for Jay Odom to use the building,'' Meggs said. ``That was before the appropriation and even after the appropriation.''
Odom, who has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Sansom and other Republicans, was charged Wednesday with official misconduct for acting as a principal in securing the funding.
Official misconduct is a third-degree felony punishable by a maximum five-year prison sentence and a $5,000 fine.
On April 17, the grand jury charged Sansom and Richburg with official misconduct over allegedly mischaracterizing how the building would be used. The college has said it will be used as a first-responder training and response center, but the grand jury concluded it was really a hangar for Odom.
Sansom's attorney said the former speaker would be vindicated. ''I think the evidence will show that the purpose of this funding was absolutely legitimate and appropriate,'' Steve Dobson said. ``I fully anticipate this case going to trial, and I fully anticipate a jury returning a verdict of not guilty.''
Odom's attorney, James Judkins, issued a statement declaring similar innocence. ''He is not a public figure and he never suggested or advised anyone to falsify any official record or document as alleged,'' Judkins said. Odom was asked to voluntarily testify before the grand jury in April but never showed up.
A trial could be months away and possibly stretch into next year, Sansom's last in public office. Asked if Sansom should resign early, Gov. Charlie Crist demurred Wednesday. ``I think that's a decision for a different day.''
The charges come against the background of a series of articles by the St. Petersburg Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee Bureau detailing how Sansom in the two years he controlled the House budget steered about $35 million in extra or accelerated construction money to the small college.
The questions arose after Sansom took a $110,000 part-time job at the college on the same day last November that he became speaker of the House, one of the most powerful positions in state politics.
Sansom defended the appropriations as open and transparent, saying the budget was available for all lawmakers to see before a final vote.
With intensifying media coverage and investigations mounting, Sansom resigned the college job after two months and said he would step down as speaker temporarily.
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