TALLAHASSEE -- The FBI has begun investigating a web of political and personal connections that have already resulted in state indictments of former House Speaker Ray Sansom and two associates, sources told the Herald/Times Bureau.

The potential of a federal grand jury complicates and intensifies matters for Sansom, Okaloosa County developer Jay Odom and the former president of Northwest Florida State College, Bob Richburg.

The men face felony charges over allegedly securing $6 million in taxpayer money for a college building that Odom may have planned to use for his corporate jet business.

An FBI agent recently started collecting information in the case and other issues, though the scope and interest are unknown.

Odom has given about $1 million in donations to Florida Republicans -- including about $122,000 to Sansom and a political committee he controlled -- and has made his aircraft available to politicians. The FBI often gets investigative help from the IRS.

A grand jury would be coordinated through the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida, which declined to comment Friday.

But investigators could concentrate more resources on other cases in the Panhandle after recently securing the conviction of Okaloosa County Sheriff Charlie Morris in a kickback scheme involving his employees.

One potential tool that federal prosecutors could use is the legal doctrine known as ''honest services'' fraud, which is generally considered easier to prove than outright bribery.

The law presumes a public official owes the public a duty of honest services. When the official fails and does so using the mail or telephones or e-mail while concealing a financial interest, it becomes a crime.

In some states the law has been used to prosecute legislators who accepted jobs or gifts from lobbyists or institutions that receive public money.

Sansom's troubles began when he took a $110,000 part-time job at Northwest Florida State College on the day last November that he was sworn in as speaker of the Florida House. He quit after two months as public and media criticism grew.

The Herald/Times then reported that over the previous two years, the Destin Republican got the small college an extra or accelerated $35 million in construction money, including $6 million in 2007 for the building at Destin Airport.

Sansom has said the appropriations were available for all lawmakers to see and approve before the budget went to Gov. Charlie Crist.

That airport project is the core of the official misconduct charges facing Sansom, Odom and Richburg. A grand jury concluded that Odom planned to use the building, even as the college would use part of it for emergency operations training.

Sansom and Richburg have also been charged with perjury over allegedly telling the grand jury that Odom was not going to use the building.

E-mails, however, show that as recently as December 2008 architects for the college were counting on ''multiple aircraft'' being stored there.

Sansom's attorney, Stephen Dobson, said Thursday that he was not aware federal investigators were looking around. But he said that after reviewing evidence in the state case, he is confident his client will be cleared.

''I'm convinced Ray Sansom is innocent,'' Dobson said. ``Not just not guilty, but innocent.''

Reporter Alex Leary can be reached at leary@sptimes.com

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@