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Tallahassee City Commissioner Scott Maddox
The focus of the FBI investigation into business dealings involving Tallahassee city officials and business associates is becoming more clear.
Based on a report in the Tallahassee Democrat Monday afternoon, Tallahassee Commissioner Scott Maddox, along with his longtime friend and associate Page Carter-Smith are being investigated by the FBI for Mail Fraud and Bribery.
The Democrat obtained the information from a search warrant affidavit that apparently was left unsealed by the federal court by mistake.
The 21-page affidavit obtained by the Democrat details Maddox and Carter-Smith’s dealings with undercover FBI agents relating to a vote by the Tallahassee City Commission in connection with a ride-sharing company, presumably Uber.
According to the Democrat:
The FBI investigation centers around “Governance, Inc.,” a company Maddox owned but later claimed to sell to Carter-Smith sometime between 2010 and 2012. However, according to the federal affidavit, “Maddox continued to control Governance and profit from its activities, to include lobbying activities in the City of Tallahassee, for years after the 2012 election.”
Maddox, an attorney and former chairman of the Florida Democratic Party, was first elected to the city commission in 1993 and became mayor in 1997. In 2003, he stepped down as mayor and tried his hand in statewide politics–running unsuccessfully for attorney general, agriculture commissioner and governor. He regained a seat on the city commission in 2012.
Maddox and Carter-Smith were the subject of a federal subpoena issued last September. At the time, he issued the following statement.
“While I am unaware of any specifics in this inquiry, it is clear that I am included in the big net currently being cast. As my voting record clearly shows, I have always protected the taxpayers’ money and advocated in their best interest. This community knows how responsive my office has been to their needs and that will not waver as we cooperate fully with whatever is asked of us.”