J.T. Burnette asks judge to drop public corruption charges, says FBI agent 'fabricated' story
Jeff BurlewAttorneys for John “J.T.” Burnette, one of Scott Maddox’s co-defendants in Tallahassee's public corruption investigation, asked a judge to drop all charges against him, accusing a former FBI agent of making false statements about alleged bribes to the former city commissioner.
In a motion filed Monday in federal court in Tallahassee, Burnette’s lawyers, Tim Jansen and Greg Kehoe, accused former FBI agent Josh Doyle of fabricating information in a 2017 report about alleged bribe payments Burnette was making to Maddox to help with his developments.
The motion says Doyle, now executive director of The Florida Bar, falsely asserted in the report that Burnette was paying Maddox $15,000 a month. It goes on to say the report, which was sent to higher-ups at the bureau, was used to justify continuation of the long-running corruption probe and get $7 million in “show money” undercover agents needed for a bogus real estate deal involving Burnette and Maddox.
Document:Read J.T. Burnette's Motion to Dismiss the Indictment
Court documents filed by Burnette’s legal team include emails from federal prosecutors, who acknowledged Doyle’s assertion about the monthly bribes was a mistake. But Burnette's lawyers said it was a false statement that prejudiced the grand jury against him.
James Wedick, a former FBI agent hired by Burnette’s legal team, went even further, saying it appeared to be an outright lie. Wedick opined in a report to Burnette’s lawyers that, “Doyle fabricated Burnette’s confession and made other misrepresentations that seriously call into question the integrity of the case.”
Doyle did not return a phone call seeking comment.
More on Josh Doyle:
VancoreJones is 'the one with the real juice'
The motion includes revealing new transcripts of conversations secretly recorded in 2016 by the FBI between undercover agents and Maddox and Burnette, both of whom denied the monthly bribe arrangement. The conversations were recorded several months before Doyle wrote his report to FBI brass.
In an Oct. 4, 2016, conversation, an agent asked Maddox about alleged payments from Burnette.
"J.T. only pays you 15 he told me," the FBI agent said.
"He don't pay me that," Maddox replied.
"He told me he pays you 15 a month ..." the agent said.
"I'm pure as a Baptist (inaudible) f------." Maddox said, uttering an expletive. "I live ... for the cross."
In a conversation the next day, the same agent clarified with Burnette that he was actually paying Tallahassee political consulting firm VancoreJones Communications.
The firm handles public relations for medical marijuana company Trulieve, whose CEO, Kim Rivers, is married to Burnette. It also has managed campaigns for a number of Leon County and city commissioners, including Mayor John Dailey, and has received more than $300,000 for consulting over recent years with the city and Blueprint.
The undercover agent brought up the consulting firm, saying, “So VancoreJones is ...”
“The one with the real juice,” Burnette replied.
"Yeah, so they are the ones you pay $15,000 a month," the agent said, recounting Maddox’s denial about Burnette payments from the night before.
The agent, who had purported projects before local government, went on to say he knew there would be “lifts” needed.
“And I think for us it’s better to start doing that now rather than wait, you know it builds good will and all of that,” the agent said. “So that’s who we would pay is VancoreJones?”
“Well, we only pay VancoreJones light money,” Burnette said, later adding “No, right now we don’t need anything.”
The agent said he was getting confused, prompting Burnette to say, “VancoreJones is really county.”
Steve Vancore, president of VancoreJones, said Burnette has never been a client of the firm. However, he said, the firm worked in 2014 for two “affiliated” companies, Inkbridge, which Rivers manages, and IB Tallahassee, the company that Burnette used to buy the DoubleTree Hotel.
Vancore said he doesn’t have “a clue" why VancoreJones was named or the “county” reference.
“I don’t know the context, how, when or where this conversation took place or even why we were mentioned,” he said.
Vancore added that while the firm's principals have not been interviewed about Burnette, they did speak to the FBI about another matter involving a Maddox bribery allegation and the downtown Onyx development.
A new undercover agent and a familiar name
The motion included other interesting tidbits, including the existence of a fourth undercover FBI agent who posed as a businessman named Chris Lancaster. He worked with an agent who went by Brian Butler as part of their business Butler Solutions Team, later revealed as an FBI front.
Also mentioned is FBI agent Michael Wiederspahn, whose name appeared on subpoenas earlier this year involving former Mayor Andrew Gillum’s 2018 campaign for governor and emails to state ethics prosecutors handling a Gillum complaint.
Burnette’s lawyers signaled the motion was coming Oct. 11 during a telephonic hearing before U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle. They asked to file the request under seal to protect grand jury and other sensitive information. But Hinkle directed them to file one motion under seal and a redacted version for public access.
A federal grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Burnette in May on racketeering, extortion and other charges as part of the four-year FBI corruption probe. He is accused of arranging bribes as part of a scheme organized by Maddox and involving his close friend Paige Carter-Smith to extort city vendors in exchange for official action.
Earlier this month, the grand jury issued a second indictment against Burnette that contained explosive allegations that he gave Maddox a $110,000 bribe in exchange for his help killing a proposed downtown hotel that would have rivaled his own projects. Burnette owned the Hotel Duval at the time and was eyeing purchase of the DoubleTree, which he later acquired.
Back story:A $110,000 bribe, an empty chair and a hotel denied: Inside the J.T. Burnette allegations
The new indictment prompted Hinkle to push back Burnette’s trial in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee from Nov. 4 to Jan. 21, 2020.
Maddox and Carter-Smith, former executive director of the Downtown Improvement Authority, pleaded guilty in August to mail and wire fraud and tax evasion charges. They will be sentenced several weeks after Burnette’s trial, on Feb. 13. Both are expected to testify against Burnette as part of cooperation with federal prosecutors they hope will reduce possible prison sentences.
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.