There's a new sheriff in town and his name is John V. Gillies. Not the sheriff, actually, but the new Special Agent in Charge of the Miami FBI Division, which makes him more powerful than a sheriff. Local politicians take note.

``Public corruption is my number one priority,'' says Gillies (pronounced like Gillis), who vows to come after anyone using a public office as a personal piggy bank. ``People who hold public office hold a public trust, and we're going to find anyone who abuses that trust and uses their office for personal gain.''

Such declarations are usually greeted here with a yawn and a, ``Yeh, right.'' But anyone who dismisses Gillies' anti-corruption pledge -- mission statement, really -- does so at his or her own peril. The guy strikes me as the real deal. A new-fashioned G-man (he has an accounting degree) with a mandate from the top to take down crooked pols, Medicare cheats, cybercrime crooks, financial frauds and anyone else who breaks federal laws. And, oh yes, anyone conspiring to threaten national security, including spies from Havana or terrorists who would try to sneak a dirty bomb through one of our ports or blow up a cruise ship. ``Our intelligence unit is large and diverse and looking at every area of possible vulnerability,'' Gillies says.

Specialty: Public corruption

A youthful 50, Gillies has been on the job here for just two weeks and is getting acclimated to South Florida after two years as the SAC in St. Louis. He's also had tours of duty in Detroit, where he oversaw white collar and cyber crime, counterintelligence and civil rights, plus earlier stops in Chicago, Albany, N.Y., San Diego, New York and Honolulu.

For a time he headed the Bureau's Financial Fraud Unit in D.C., but it appears he was appointed to the Miami job because of his success at ferreting out public corruption. He's brought down crooked judges, IRS agents and politicians of all sorts. Makes him a good fit in South Florida where public corruption wasn't invented, but has been perfected. We combine the best (that is, the worst) of old-fashioned American chicanery with various cultural variants shipped in from Cuba, the Caribbean and Latin America. It's a heady mix, and it stinks to high heaven. Gillies just smiled when I asked him if he'd gotten a whiff.

Even before Gillies got here the Miami FBI office was on a roll.

The three Broward officials busted on public corruption charges were brought down by undercover FBI agents. One calling himself Pat Foster claimed to represent a Hialeah lighting contractor that wanted in on lucrative Broward County school construction contracts. Foster hooked up with School Board member Beverly Gallagher, who had made school construction her specialty (now we know why) and offered to steer contracts Foster's way. She told him they could ``make a lot of money together,'' according to the criminal complaint. But all Gallagher got was a paltry $12,500 in bribes before she was busted.

Since all her phone conversations and face-to-face meetings with ``Foster'' are probably on tape and the Bureau must also have the dozens of text messages she sent and received about school contracts, Gallagher will almost certainly seek a plea deal and roll over on anyone who was part of this sleazy scheme.

Expect more names

The FBI was also the lead agency in bringing down Dr. Alan Mendelsohn, a politically connected Hollywood ophthalmologist indicted last month for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors who gave him millions to buy influence in Tallahassee. One unnamed public official reportedly got $87,000 from Mendelsohn, who has pleaded not guilty. I wouldn't be surprised to see him roll over on some of the public officials who took his checks and did his bidding.

So, let's see where things stand:

Last year, convictions and prison time for two Palm Beach County commissioners and one West Palm Beach city commissioner; this year, the indictment of big-time political operative Mendelsohn and arrests of Broward County Commissioner Joe Eggelletion, former Miramar commissioner Fitzroy Salesman and Gallagher. Is Miami-Dade next? ``I can't talk about what comes next,'' Gillies says, ``but we're not finished.''

So, should an elected official be worried about the guy who bought drinks and dinner and said how grateful he'd be for government contracts? Or what about a mayor, commissioner or School Board member who took a cruise up the Intracoastal on a fancy yacht, as Gallagher did, where sneaky deals were discussed? ``If an elected official has done nothing wrong,'' Gillies says, ``then they have nothing to worry about.'' And if they have done something wrong, they've got John V. Gillies -- and the 450 FBI agents who work for him -- to be very worried about.

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