PAGE 3 - December 2, 2009
The Newscaster/Nature Coast News
Squawk Box Continued from page 1
Citrus County saves quarter of a
around that they could donate on a whim with a phone call. “Does the agent just walk around
million on compactor by not buying a with cash?” The comments by the alias employee of Gideon Development, Michaels, was
The Citrus County Solid Waste Division recently saved $254,937
so derogatory against the Levy County Sheriff’s Office when it was played, using the f word
new compactor (at $735,500) for the county landfill. The compactor is a critical component
over and over and telling how he just made it out of the courthouse security without get-
at the facility, mashing refuse down to take up as little space as possible, and an old one
ting caught with recorders. Michaels had unexpectedly got to meet Yearty as Yearty exited
needed to be replaced. When the division researched the alternatives to buying a new one, it
a county commission meeting. His conversation out the door of the courthouse was “The
found it could get a completely rebuilt compactor from Ring Power/CAT in a “Second Life”
f...ing eagle has landed here, I just got lucky....”. It was like a hunting story and the cross
program.
hairs were on the grand buck... Of course the judge ruled these F statements struck from
The company took the compactor down to the frame and completely rebuilt it, of-
the record and the jury to ignore them. I don’t need to tell you the rest of what I think. but it
fering an extended warranty at no extra cost that was better than the original warranty. New
does start with an S and rhymes with think. HAVE A GREAT DAY AND BE GLAD YOU
components were also added, such as a fire suppression system, monitoring cameras and
ARE NOT A TARGET...
Trial - Continued from page 1
new better than original wheels.
Happy Solid Waste Division officials were amazed at the quality of the rebuild and
said the machine was as good as a new one -- with the better warranty – for a quarter of
can’t withdraw after you commit the crime.”
a million less. They noted the company is so proud of its re-builds the team attaches their
Parker’s counsel, Gloria Fletcher, described Parker as not highly educated and stat-
names to the machine on a small plaque.
ed that he made his living with his hands and had the belief that people couldn’t just stand
by, so in 2000, Parker ran for election, learned the art of negotiation, and in 2004, sought re-
election. Levy County, she said, being rural, has few resources, and it was Parker’s county
commission job to live within a budget, so he needed to go to cities where infrastructure is
provided - and where Yearty and Parker had no voting authority.
Yearty is represented by former State Senator Rod Smith and his associate/son,
Jesse Smith. The elder Smith spoke of Yearty as a 30-year county commissioner whose
father was a county commissioner before him. Smith emphasized that nothing was pend-
ing with the Levy County Commission regarding “developer” Sean Michaels or Gideon
Development. A development is a tax base to Levy County, and the county can’t help his
development, which needs city water and sewers. County plays no role in cities. Michaels
had previously met with Doug King of Jim King Realty (Chiefland) about the development.
Michaels asked King to bring in Yearty, who took agent Michaels around the county for
seven hours and had lunch with him, but never mentioned “votes.” Yearty offered Michaels
an airboat trip to the Wacassassa flats. At dinner, Michaels said, “Why don’t you come up
to New York City?” Yearty put two tickets on his visa card. At the end of dinner, Michaels
brought out the money and tried to justify that Yearty and Parker would need $5000, each,
for the trip. He stresses that Gideon Development had nothing pending before the county
commission. Smith said, “You can’t prove that Sammy sold the office the people have given
Happy and impressed Maintenance Coordinator Aaron Lake chats with Customer Service Su-
him for thirty years.“
pervisor Carmen Bruno from atop the big piece of equipment just before it is put into service.
The first witness was FBI Jeffrey Thornburg who testified, that in 2005, the FBI’s
focus was on 2 Dixie County Commissioners and 6 or 7 other people. In spring of 2007,
R&M
AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS
plans were revised to include Yearty as a target, and a transition was made from Dixie to
Rebuilt - Repaired - Resealed
Levy County. As Michaels was having trouble keeping up his case load in N.J. while work-
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ing on the case in Levy County, another agent, Jesse Chapman (an alias), who was portrayed
A/C - Brakes - Front End - Exhaust - TuneUps
as V.P. and investor of Gideon Development, came to work on the case to help Michaels.
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Michaels met with Doug King of Jim King Realty (Chiefland) and once or twice with real
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estate broker Darryl Diamond (Inglis) to make his business look legitimate.
4X4’s - RV’s - Trucks - Autos
Fletcher brought out that Parker was not a target of this investigation, that many of
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Foreign & Domestic
the exhibits in the trial were from Dixie County and questioned that agent Michaels could
come up with $500 cash to donate at a county EZDA meeting where other developers were
352-447-0704
Visa - Mastercard - Discover
giving money. She questioned why many of the phone calls were not recorded.
Accepted
Fax Line 447-6040
Smith brought out testimony by Thornburg that this case was not referred to him by
law enforcement and the FBI never talked to the sheriff or police about Yearty and Parker,
until after the indictment, and that the one agents had targeted was Yearty. Smith brought up
that Yearty had spent hours taking Michaels around the county and had offered the airboat
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trip to Michaels before Michaels brought up the NYC trip, and that the two $910 airline
tickets were placed on Yearty’s charge card. Michaels - not Yearty - suggested that Yearty
and Powder Coating
and Parker would need $5000, each, for the trip to NYC. “We were buying influence, not
a vote,” said Smith, pounding loudly to the word “vote.” He emphasized that Yearty never
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
used the word vote, that he’d said, “As long as you do things according to the rules and zon-
816 Hwy. 40 E
ing, I will help you.” Smith emphasized that there was nothing for the commission to vote
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Inglis, Florida
on regarding Gideon Development or Sean Michaels.
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(352)447-6103
The trial contained many statements about taping phone conversations and wearing
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a wire or recorder to record conversations. Thornburg said some important conversations
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could not be taped because Michaels was afraid of being seen with, or caught, in security
checks, with recording devices and did not want to risk comprommising the investigation.
email: pioneerprecision@comcast.net
Follow daily reports of this trial on our website: http://thenewscaster.com
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