Lynn Haven Corruption Case (this past week)
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May 11, 2023 - No more Kinsaul Park SPLASH PAD? City Manager Vickie Gainer and Mayor Jesse Nelson are pushing for skate park instead.
Why not both? There's certainly room in Lynn Haven. They don't have to "explore" the demolition of the Kinsaul Splash Pad.
May 9, 2023 - Judge DENIES Finch's Motion for Acquittal. / Michael White & Mickey White sentenced today.
May 9, 2023 - Federal Judge Mark Walker has denied James Finch’s Rule 29 renewed Motion to Acquit based on lack of evidence to convict.
The Lynn Haven developer, who has faced four rewrites to the indictment and a hung jury on both counts of bribery, will face another jury of his peers over a $5,000 check written to a former commissioner as a business loan in 2017.
Prosecutors claim that Finch bribed Barnes for his vote on the financing of the 17th Street Ditch project six months after the financing was awarded unanimously by the commission upon the recommendation of then-City Manager Joel Schubert.
The financing came from Finch himself, who loaned the City $4.4 million at 2.55 percent (when Prime was 5.8 percent). He even told the City not to begin payments until the project was completed, and will accept the last payment when he is 95 years old.
The prosecutors’ main witness, former City Manager Michael White, was sentenced to 3.5 years today for his role in defrauding the taxpayers of more than a million dollars in FEMA money after Hurricane Michael.
The lead prosecutor is Andrew Grogan, who failed to convict former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum last week.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, and the Justice Department have spent nearly three years and who-knows how many millions of dollars combined trying to imprison Finch over (1) conspiracy to bribe and (2) a $5,000 check.
“This Court finds that, viewing the evidence presented at trial in the light most
favorable to the Government and drawing all reasonable inferences in its favor, a reasonable jury could have found Defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” wrote Judge Walker in today’s ruling.
May 9, 2023 - Former Lynn Haven city manager and contractor sentenced to 3.5 years in federal prison. They must report to prison in 60 days.
They defrauded taxpayers of more than a million dollars in FEMA money following Hurricane Michael.
Michael White has been the main witness against developer James Finch. Prosecutors recommended a lighter sentence for White even though nobody believed his absurd testimony during the March trial that ended in a hung jury.
Mickey White (unrelated) owned Erosion Control Specialist and falsely billed the City with the help of Michael White and others. Late contractor Derwin White had Mickey (his nephew) plant evidence to frame Mayor Margo Anderson, who had all 64 counts dropped.
