Escambia commissioner enters corruption plea

Commissioner Willie Junior pleads no contest to charges of bribery, extortion, grand theft, racketeering and Sunshine Law violation.

©Associated Press
September 18, 2002

PENSACOLA -- A second suspended Escambia County commissioner pleaded no contest to political corruption charges Tuesday in exchange for testimony against co-defendant W.D. Childers, a former Florida Senate president.

Suspended Commissioner Willie Junior entered his plea to 10 felony counts, including bribery, extortion, grand theft and racketeering, and one count of violating the state's open-government Sunshine Law.

Childers, elected as a commissioner in 2000 when term limits forced him from the Senate, has been convicted on one misdemeanor count of violating the Sunshine Law and is facing retrial Oct. 7 on a second count.

He also is set for trial Feb. 10 on more serious felony charges, including bribery and money laundering.

Circuit Judge Jere Tolton accepted Junior's plea and delayed sentencing until after Childers' last trial.

Each Sunshine Law count is punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine, but Junior was facing up to 125 years on the felony charges. Junior's deal with prosecutors calls for a prison term of up to 18 months.

Last week, another suspended commissioner, Mike Bass, pleaded no contest to two Sunshine Law counts, and prosecutors agreed to drop bribery, racketeering and other felony counts.

A fourth suspended commissioner, Terry Smith, is set for sentencing today on two counts of violating the Sunshine Law by discussing public business in private with another commissioner: Childers.

Junior and his lawyers declined comment, but the attorneys said in a written statement that he admitted accepting a $10,000 bribe directly from real estate salesman Joe Elliott and $90,000 through Childers.

"A conviction of any one of the felony charges could have resulted in a lengthy prison term," wrote defense lawyers Charles Liberis and Michael Griffith. "For that reason our client felt that it was in his best interest to enter into a plea and cooperation agreement."

In a previously disclosed statement to prosecutors, Junior said Childers delivered bundles of cash in a cooking pot last year.

The commissioners voted 3-2, with Childers, Junior and Bass in the majority, to buy a former soccer complex from Elliott and his wife, Georgann, for $3.9-million.

The commissioners later bought a defunct auto dealership from the Elliotts, both indicted on bribery-related charges, for $2.3-million.

Junior's lawyers wrote that the felony indictments of Childers and Joe Elliott were a direct result of their client's cooperation. They also pointed out that prosecutors could call off the deal if Junior fails to testify truthfully.

Initially, Junior had agreed to plead guilty, but prosecutors let him change it to no contest, a distinction that does not change his potential penalty.

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