Corrine Brown Trial
(Jacksonville, FL) -- Former Jacksonville Congresswoman Corrine Brown remains under fire during her ongoing federal corruption trial. On day-four of the trial yesterday, former Brown aide Carla Wiley told a grand jury on the witness stand that she used an education charity she created to honor her mother as a fundraising front organization for Corrine Brown and her personal expenses. Wiley pled guilty last year to a criminal conspiracy charge related to the case as part of a plea deal. Brown faces a 350-year prison sentence if she is convicted on nearly two-dozen criminal charges.
Gwen Graham Expected To Announce Run For Governor
(Miami, FL) -- Former Democratic Tallahassee Congresswoman Gwen Graham is expected to announce her run for governor today. The "Tallahassee Democrat" reports the daughter of former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham will make the announcement at 10:00am in the Miami area, where both she and her father were born. Graham is the third generation of the Graham family to make a run for governor of Florida after her father and her paternal grandfather, Ernest "Cap" Graham. Graham is an attorney who represented Florida's Second Congressional District on Capitol Hill for a term that ended in January.
Senate Votes To Impose Pre-Arrest Diversion Programs
(Tallahassee, FL) -- It's meant to help kids avoid a lifelong black mark, but a local sheriff says a new law ties their hands. The state Senate yesterday voted to require first-time juvenile offenders to be placed in a pre-arrest diversion program. Right now, what happens to a juvenile offender depends on what county they live in. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri tells the "Times/Herald" this change means cops have just two options, charging a minor with a felony or letting him walk.