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Stadium charges settled

Associated Press
Published January 7, 2004

SARASOTA - The Stadium Naples corruption case ended Tuesday with a former Collier County commissioner pleading guilty to two charges and all charges being dropped against a developer.

Racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges against Robert Paul Hardy, 48, will be dropped once he pays $50,000 in court costs, attorneys said.

Former Collier County Commissioner John Norris, 62, pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of unlawful compensation. In return, prosecutors dropped one count of racketeering and three more counts of unlawful compensation.

Norris will be sentenced to one year of house arrest and five years of probation, as well as pay $10,000 for investigative costs and $286 in court costs.

Prosecutors claimed developers used bribery to get favorable votes from commissioners for Stadium Naples, a $100-million golf arena, and Pelican Strand, a residential development. They were never built.

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