Judge tosses conspiracy charge against former Lynn Haven mayor, who faces 25 other charges

Tom McLaughlin, The News Herald
·6 min read
Margo Anderson, former Lynn Haven mayor
Margo Anderson, former Lynn Haven mayor

LYNN HAVEN — For the second time, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Walker has tossed charges alleging former Lynn Haven Mayor Margo Anderson and construction company owner James Finch conspired to steal from citizens of the city and deprive them of honest governance.

The judge declined, however, to throw out 25 additional criminal charges facing Anderson and Finch, and unless another continuance is granted in the almost two-year-old case, the pair will go on trial June 27 at the Federal Courthouse in Tallahassee.

The remaining charges include 17 charges of honest services wire fraud, five counts of theft or bribery, two counts of wire fraud and one count of perjury.

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As he did in August of last year, Walker dismissed the conspiracy charge without prejudice, leaving open the opportunity for federal authorities to go to a grand jury seeking a third indictment of Anderson and Finch for conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.

Walker wrote in his first ruling that while he saw clear intent to conspire in three of five "projects" the government had tried to tie into its conspiracy theory, in two others he did not. That, he said, had left him no alternative but to toss the entire charge.

In his latest ruling, Walker wrote prosecutors "still lack facts" tying two projects into the web of conspiracy.

The three projects that met the judge's scrutiny were a construction project on the city's 17th Street, the city's rebuild following Hurricane Michael and post-hurricane debris disposal. He said in each of those cases, evidence existed with which the government could argue that Finch offered and Anderson accepted bribes in exchange for support for his projects.

"All three schemes have the same goal — to disperse city contracts in exchange for bribes — and are similar in nature," Walker wrote in last year's ruling.

The original charges stemmed from a 2017 deal

The original charges, filed in 2020, stemmed from a 2017 deal in which Anderson, as mayor, arranged to make Finch's Phoenix Construction the vendor/contractor for road projects undertaken during the 10-year life span of a half-cent sales tax. Finch was given the contract without having to participate in a competitive bidding process, according to court documents.

Anderson signed off on documents to allow Finch's company to proceed with a second phase of what is termed in court papers as the 17th Street project and receive $15,000 a month to do so ahead of the city allocating funds to cover the cost, charges against her state. At the same time, Anderson received a $106,000 motor home and trips to Biloxi, Mississippi, and the Florida Keys from Finch, according to the charges.

The U.S. Attorney's Office cites checks written to Finch for $2.27 million, $1.45 million and a check written by Finch for $75,000 as evidence of the illegal transactions in 2017.

The checks for $2.27 million and $1.45 million were provided to Finch to do road work prior to the city approving the projects he was embarking upon, the government charges state. The check for $75,000 from Finch went to Lynn Haven's city engineer, who used it to pay off a motor home that was then given to Anderson at no charge, it said.

The government states the transfer of the ill-gotten funds between banks constitutes wire fraud.

In submitting additional evidence of Anderson and Finch collaborating following Hurricane Michael to divert funds to Phoenix Construction, prosecutors stated that they have text messages and emails from former Lynn Haven City Manager Michael White, who has pleaded guilty to charges of theft and fraud.

In one message, White canceled a permit application for debris removal at one site. In another, he directs a company doing debris removal to use a Finch-owned site. He made both moves under orders from Anderson, the indictment against the former mayor states.

Two other elements of the government's case for conspiracy, which the judge termed "WorldClaim and ECS" did not meet the same standard of connectivity as the first three, Walker said in his earlier ruling on the conspiracy charges.

Walker said he could not find a strong link between Finch and two businesses, WorldClaim and ECS (Erosion Control Specialist), that allegedly were able to successfully bribe Anderson and other city officials.

The indictment states that prosecutors have text messages between White and David White, the owner of Erosion Control Specialist and another co-conspirator in the Lynn Haven crimes, that discuss ECS doing hurricane-related repairs at Anderson's residence.

Prosecutors say they have invoices from ECS claiming to have done $527,000 worth of hurricane debris removal at a cemetery and sports complex on the days the company actually had sent employees to do work at the homes of Anderson, Michael White, then City Attorney Adam Albritton and Albritton's girlfriend.

"Work at the residences was concealed and not reported in invoices and no supporting documents to the invoice was provided," the bill of particulars said.

Prosecutors say they also have documents that show Anderson "specifically authorized" payments to ECS for debris removal and trash collection work that wasn't done.

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The indictment also states the federal government has evidence showing the mayor had received notification from WorldClaim, an insurance company that had been awarded a city contract, that any damage claim she made following Hurricane Michael would be processed free of charge.

Prosecutors tried in their second indictment to argue that the WorldClaim and ECS projects were not a part of the overall conspiracy involving Anderson and Finch. But Walker states that references to ECS or WorldClaim appear in at least 27 paragraphs of the second indictment.

"Initially, then, it appears that (the conspiracy theory) again encompasses ECS and WorldClaim," he wrote.

This time, Walker said, the government's attempt to tie both Anderson and Finch to the overarching conspiracy "falls short because it leaves the charged conspiracy’s scope ambiguous."

He said the use of the word "including" in a paragraph of the second superseding indictment left the government's case wide open for interpretation and gave defense attorneys no solid way to prepare a defense for their clients.

The charging document "does not fairly inform (Anderson and Finch) of the charges against which they must defend," Walker wrote. "For the same reason, the superseding indictment also denies (Anderson and Finch) the ability to enter a plea that would bar future prosecution."

Following Walker's second ruling, Anderson's attorney, W. Robert Vezina, issued a statement.

"This is the second time the court has dismissed the conspiracy count as being infirm," the statement said. "The court has granted, at least in part, four motions to dismiss in this case. If the government decides to move forward with a revamped indictment against Ms. Anderson that is cognizable, Ms. Anderson is prepared to defend herself in every regard at trial."

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Former Lynn Haven Mayor Margo Anderson gets conspiracy charge tossed