County Commissioner Facing Wire Fraud Charges

Tammy Hall, Lee County Commissioner, resigned on Monday morning after federal prosecutors announced she is facing wire fraud charges for siphoning money from her campaign account. Investigators accuse Hall of using over $33,000 from political contributors for her own personal expenses. It is believed that she transferred the money electronically from campaign accounts to pay her Bank of American mortgage and American Express bills for purchases at Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Mark Loren Designs and Club Monaco. Authorities believe the scheme ran from November 2009 and November 2010, during her bid for re-election.

Investigators also accuse Hall of misrepresenting the purpose of her expenses on quarterly campaign fund reports that were filed with the Florida Department of State and failing to disclose some contribution checks from donors.

Hall announced her resignation from the Board of the County Commissioners on Tuesday. Chairman Cecil Pendergrass will now notify Governor Scott’s office and ask him to appoint someone to fill the seat until the general election in November of 2014.

If convicted, Tammy Hall faces a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. Her initial court appearance before a judge has been scheduled for October 3, 2013.

While the charges were filed on Monday, Hall had already announced into a plea agreement on September 16^th. The court has not yet accepted her plea agreement at this time.