TALLAHASSEE -- Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater said Monday that he will return a $5,000 political donation he received from a New York politician who is under indictment for alleged influence-peddling.

Former New York Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno contributed the money Oct. 28 to Preserve the American Dream, Atwater's political committee. In January, Bruno was indicted by federal prosecutors on eight felony counts of using his office to enrich himself.

''I certainly would not have known that at the time,'' Atwater said of Bruno's legal troubles, which capped a three-year FBI investigation. ``I was unaware of that.''

Asked if he would return the money to Bruno, the North Palm Beach Republican quickly said, ''Sure, sure, sure, yeah, yeah.'' Bruno has pleaded not guilty. Neither he nor his attorney could be reached for comment.

The contribution to Atwater's political committee came to light during a Herald/Times analysis of 40 political committees established by lawmakers to support their political points of view and preferred candidates. Atwater said he founded it to advance the rights of homeowners and private property owners.

In the past two years alone, the lawmaker-controlled funds received about $6 million in contributions from special interests and collectively spent a total of $210,500 in $500 contributions directly to candidates. More than $1 million was spent on consultants. A number of lawmakers used the money to pay for dinners and travel. Atwater said he did not do that.

''I wasn't using it for my own travel, lunches, was not giving dinners, was not giving it to candidates,'' Atwater said.

Atwater said he had little communication with Bruno and only met him once.

'I remember that he provided us the contribution, but there was no `ask' for that,'' Atwater said, using a political term for soliciting contributions. ``He wanted to contribute to the Florida Republican initiatives.''

When he was indicted, Bruno was the CEO of CMA Consulting Services. The firm, which is pushing for red-light traffic ticketing cameras in Florida, has hired two lobbyists, Jason Unger and Peter Antonacci. CMA contributed about $500 to Bradenton Republican Rep. Ron Reagan and $2,500 to the political committee of Fort Lauderdale Republican Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff. Neither could be reached.

Staff writer Breanne Gilpatrick contributed to this report. Marc Caputo can be reached at mcaputo@Miami

Herald.com.

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