November 30, 2004
LaBrake not a felon yet
You know, what with the election and other distractions, I have completely neglected to point out that this alleged slimy, wealthy white piece of shit is finally on trial for having stolen and misappropriated funds meant for low income housing.
After a third day of deliberations, the jury deciding the fate of former city housing director Steve LaBrake went home Monday without rendering a verdict. So far, the 12 jurors have deliberated for about 15 hours. They return today to continue their work.LaBrake and his wife, Lynne LaBrake, are accused of taking a series of bribes and gratuities to build a 4,200-square-foot home and, in turn, steering millions of dollars in U.S. Housing and Urban Development contracts to the nonprofit Tampa-Hillsborough Action Plan and Ryan Construction.
The best moment was probably when professional realtor LaBrake testified, with a straight face, that he is incapable of balancing a check book, and therefore cannot have been expected to keep track of the public’s money that just happened to end up in the pockets of he and his friends.
Posted by Norwood at November 30, 2004 07:15 AM