Former Hillsborough County Commissioner and Tampa City Councilman Kevin White was found guilty Wednesday morning by a federal jury of seven of the ten counts, including conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and lying to the FBI. He was innocent of charges relating to payments to his father.
It is very possible now that White will be facing jail time. That won't be decided until February 27, 2012.
Federal agents captured hours of conversations between White and others over the past couple of years, particularly around people trying to influence him in his role as chairman of the Public Transportation Commission.
The smoking gun in favor of prosecution was a videotape which showed White taking $5,000 from an undercover FBI agent, who was posing as an investor in a Tampa towing company.
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2011.