Ray Sansom has again asked a judge to dismiss the criminal
case against him, arguing grand theft charges are too broad to limit
prosecutorial discretion. The indicted former speaker of the Florida
House is hoping a judge
applies that same standard as he did last year in dismissing an official
misconduct charge.
But State Attorney Willie Meggs has a
new court filing of his own, laying out a furtive narrative of a $6
million airplane project that Sansom was said to be the "kingpin"
of, according to documents.
Sansom's motion, served Monday in
Leon County Circuit Court, relies on statements from several officials
involved in the planning of a $6 million airport building that Sansom
funded through the Legislature. The witnesses assert that Sansom played
no role in the planning of the building after he slipped the money in
the 2007 state budget.
Sansom, 47, is accused of casting the project as a educational
facility and concealing plans by a friend of his, Panhandle businessman
Jay Odom, to use the space for his corporate jet business. Sansom denied
knowing anything about those plans, revealed in documents obtained by
the Times/Herald and prosecutors, and his lawyers now say that it
would have been up to the trustees of Northwest Florida State College
to agree to any use by Odom.
Meggs' new filing (read it here)
in in response to previous motions to dismiss by Sansom and his
co-defendants, Odom and former college president Bob Richburg. It tracks
the project through the budget process and shows how, despite
assertions to the contrary, Odom planned to use the building and was in
contact with Sansom.
It relies on
numerous e-mails to paint a conspiracy. In one, previously reported by
the Times/Herald, Richburg said that he and Odom considered
Sansom the "kingpin" of the deal.
"Defendants Odom, Richburg and
Sansom worked together to misappropriate and effectively take 6 million
tax dollars to benefit Defendant Odom as a reward for his political
allegiance. Further, they attempted to conceal the purpose of The
Project and conceal and destroy evidence in this case. Now they claim
they are not accountable for this Appropriation!"
A court hearing
is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday on some of the motions.
– Alex Leary,
Times staff writer
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