GOP chairman convicted in election fraud

But he’s the small fish

On Thursday, jurors in Seminole County handed down a verdict that should send shivers down the spines of shady actors throughout Florida.

The jury showed it wouldn’t tolerate campaign fraud — actual fraud, mind you; not the made-up kind touted by whiny losers and politicians trying to intimidate voters.

It also showed it was willing to crack down on a high-profile and well-connected figure — the chairman of the county’s Republican party and recent vice president of the Seminole County Chamber of Commerce.

But the main reason Ben Paris’ conviction should make shadowy operators nervous is because the trial and evidence made something else clear:

Paris was just a little fish. Bigger fish are still out there.

And the authorities seem to have their nets ready.

Two other defendants are facing much more serious charges. (Paris faced only a misdemeanor. The others face multiple charges that include felonies.)

But even those three people aren’t the ones who stood to benefit most from the election of Republican State Sen. Jason Brodeur — a reliable vote for power companies, developers and other business interests.

The three people charged just seem to be the ones willing to do the dirty work, according to state officials.

It’s hard to have sympathy for them. They’re all adults and knew what they were doing. But there were bigger forces at play.

And for the first time since I and others at the Orlando Sentinel started writing about all this shady activity more than two years ago, I have some hope that authorities are doing something about it.

Records show investigators are asking a lot of questions — the right questions — about the bigger fish.

The most damning evidence, aside from the conviction, comes from a 119-page deposition transcript of former tax collector

Joel Greenberg, who has already pleaded guilty to a string of felonies and is awaiting sentencing.

Greenberg is singing like a pop star.

Greenberg described the group of Seminole County politicos who orchestrated this scheme as a “mafia,” saying he used to be a member. And the questions asked by investigators suggest they know the difference between bosses and soldiers.

Originally, the state dragged its feet on this case, showing a maddening and suspicious level of disinterest. So the Orlando Sentinel did its own digging — and found evidence that helped crack things open.

The case centered around a scheme designed to help Brodeur get elected.

Records and testimony show Brodeur’s buddies recruited a political nobody named Jestine Iannotti to put her name on the ballot as an independent, no-party candidate. Iannotti didn’t campaign. In fact, she basically hid — even leaving for Sweden during the campaign.

But Brodeur’s backers promoted Iannotti as a left-learning independent candidate in an attempt to siphon votes away from Brodeur’s Democratic opponent in the race.

Now, Iannotti’s campaign finance report listed only a handful of donations — enough to cover her $1,187 filing fee. But one of the things that puzzled Sentinel journalists was why any person with genuine intentions would donate to the campaign of a candidate who wasn’t campaigning.

So Sentinel reporter Annie Martin started pounding the pavement and knocking on the doors of those whose names were listed as donors to Iannotti’s campaign. That’s when one said he’d never donated the money that state records claimed he had.

It was a eureka moment — about as close to proof as you could get that somebody had committed a crime.

See, in Florida, there’s no law against recruiting bogus candidates to run for office. But there are laws against filing fake campaign reports.

In this case, one donor turned out to be the cousin of Paris, who was not only a buddy of Brodeur’s but also Brodeur’s employee at the Seminole Chamber where Brodeur is still president.

The cousin testified that Paris asked him to lie about the donation.

Now, the donation in question was only $200. But during closing arguments Thursday, Assistant State Attorney Matthew Futch stressed the case was about something bigger — election integrity. “Campaign finance transparency is one of the fundamental tenets of making sure those elections are free and fair, so that we, as the electorate and the citizens, know where the money is coming from,” he said. “That’s why this matters.” He’s right.

And the deposition of Greenberg — who testified that Brodeur was aware of the scheme to recruit a spoiler candidate — made it clear that investigators know there’s a bigger picture here.

While the state was generally slow to act, the questions asked by the two lead officials on this case — FDLE investigator Troy Cope and Brevard-Seminole Chief Assistant State Attorney Stacey Straub Salmons — were savvy and probing. The transcript made it clear these two know there are other players involved.

They asked about Brodeur and lobbyist/developer Chris Dorworth. They asked about recent shenanigans at the Orlando airport, including a no-bid legal contract and lobbying activity by Eric Foglesong, the third person facing criminal charges in this case. They asked about how Paris ended up on the payroll at the Seminole County Chamber of Commerce.

We also already know, based on other Sentinel reporting, that other powerful interests were involved in this campaign — including consultants for Florida Power & Light. Records also revealed that lobbyists for other powerful groups were with Brodeur on election night, celebrating his victory.

In other words: Brodeur’s victory was desired by a lot of people more powerful and connected than Ben Paris.

Brodeur has told the Sentinel he didn’t know anything about the scheme designed to help him. He hasn’t been charged with a crime. And maybe every single person and group mentioned above did everything above-board.

But for the first time, state authorities seem determined to find out.

And that’s what’s making some people very nervous.