More corrupt than New Jersey? New Orleans? Bay County, we have a problem | Ray Glenn
More corrupt than New Jersey?
More corrupt than New Orleans?
So says the director of operations of Crowder Gulf — a debris removal company that worked cleanup operations following Hurricane Michael in October 2018 — about Bay County.
Crowder Gulf worked similar projects after Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey and Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and other disasters through the years.
“Bay County was more corrupt than any of those places,” he told the FBI.
Crowder Gulf: FBI: Company led by former Florida House speaker bilked 'millions of dollars' for hurricane cleanup
Lynn Haven corruption case: Three three key figures in a post-Hurricane Michael scandal plead guilty, facing prison time
More charges: Lynn Haven mayor and city attorney each charged with more than 60 federal crimes
It appears the Crowder Gulf official wasn’t just blowing smoke.
When a team of FBI agents led by Lawrence Borghini stormed into the headquarters of GAC Contractors in Panama City on Aug. 5, 2021, they were looking for evidence detailing massive corruption throughout Bay County, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed on Monday.
Named in the search warrants were former state House Speaker Allan Bense, former State Sen. George Gainer and several others. Bense and Gainer are two longtime Bay County business leaders and politicians held in the highest regard.
Bense has been a managing partner of GAC Contractors, alongside Derwin White, since 1996. Currently, he is listed by the Florida Division of Corporations as the company's chairman.
Gainer is a state senator who after being elected in 2016 established a business with the now deceased White. According to the application for the search warrant, when Gainer bought a condominium in Tallahassee to use as a legislator, GAC remodeled the unit at no charge, and following Hurricane Michael removed debris from Gainer's yard and supplied him with a generator for his home.
The FBI document appears to expand the alleged corruption scandal in Bay County following Hurricane Michael beyond Lynn Haven. Since 2019, five Lynn Haven city officials and four businesspeople have been charged with federal crimes related to the theft of federal disaster funding.
The 45-page document alleges GAC and CEO White bilked Bay County, other local municipalities and Bay District Schools of “millions of dollars.”
No criminal charges have been filed to date.
Unbelievably, this is not our first corruption rodeo. Monday’s bombshell follows the scandal that rocked Bay County in 2019 and is still being played out.
In November of that year, federal indictments were handed down against former Lynn Haven City Manager Michael White, former Lynn Haven Community Service Director David Horton, David White and Shannon Rodriguez of Erosion Control Specialist, and Joshua Anderson of Greenleaf Lawn Care of Bay County
Following Hurricane Michael, Michael White and Horton received kickbacks from David White, Rodriguez and Anderson for falsifying invoices for hurricane debris removal and landscaping work that was never performed. Federal agents said the five profited by more than $5 million from their illegal efforts.
All five eventually pleaded guilty. They are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 15.
But that first indictment was just the tip of the iceberg.
On Aug. 18, 2020, former Lynn Haven Mayor Margo Anderson and then-Lynn Haven City Attorney Adam Albritton were indicted on more than 60 federal charges. James Finch, owner of Phoenix Construction, and former Lynn Haven Commissioner Antonius Barnes were added to the Anderson/Albritton indictment in March of 2021.
The original indictment alleges the four worked together “to ensure contracts for numerous multi-million-dollar infrastructure and construction projects and post-Hurricane Michael debris clean-up activities were awarded to Finch.”
In return, it said, Finch gave money and gifts to Anderson and Barnes, and kickbacks to Albritton.
Albritton and Barnes have pleaded guilty in the case. Albritton is set for sentencing on Jan. 12, 2023. Barnes' sentencing will follow the next day.
The trials of Anderson and Finch, the only two of those indicted not to have pleaded guilty, have been continued several times. Both are now scheduled for trial on Nov. 28.
Also snared in the corruption investigation was Bay County Commissioner Keith Baker. He was arrested on June 23, 2020, by Bay County Sheriff's Office deputies and charged with fraud, bid tampering and workers compensation fraud.
Baker is set for trial on Oct. 24.
After Baker’s arrest, then-14th Judicial Circuit State Attorney Glenn Hess said corruption in Bay County was not a new problem.
“There has been an undercurrent of corruption in Bay County for a long time,” Hess said. “The winds of Hurricane Michael laid it out, so it can be seen.”
Mr. Hess, I wish you were wrong on this. But you’re not. It’s clear we have a corruption problem in Bay County.
Seven people already have pleaded guilty, and two trials are still to follow. Monday’s revelation could bring additional charges and more years of legal wrangling.
Let’s be clear, corruption must be rooted out. It undermines the trust in our leaders and tarnishes the reputations of those who are honest and good. It steals from all of us and enriches those who have earned nothing but a prison sentence.
Who in Bay County would have thought that we could rival New Jersey or New Orleans when talking corruption? I, for one, am shocked and ashamed. And increasingly angry!
Kicking us while we were down and fighting for the survival for our communities after a historic Category 5 hurricane? You’ll get no sympathy from me.
I call for the seizure of all ill-gotten gains from those who are found guilty and maximum prison sentences.
Let the chips fall where they may.
Ray Glenn is the content coach and engagement editor at the Panama City News Herald. You can reach him at RGlenn@gannett.com.
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This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Bay County corruption is a system problem | Ray Glenn