//Tally City Commissioner, Downtown Director Indicted on Federal Racketeering
NewsDecember 12, 2018

Tally City Commissioner, Downtown Director Indicted on Federal Racketeering

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – December 12, 2018 – WTXL reported that Tallahassee city commissioner Scott Maddox, 50, and Downtown Improvement Authority Executive Director Janice Paige Carter-Smith, 53, have been indicted on federal racketeering charges.

According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Maddox and Carter-Smith have been indicted on 44 counts for “conspiring to operate a racketeering enterprise” that allegedly participated in bank fraud, extortion, honest services fraud and bribery.

Both are also charged with bank fraud and filing false tax returns.

According to authorities, Maddox and Carter-Smith operated two companies, Governance, Inc., and Governance Services, LLC, as one entity they referred to as “Governance,” which was created by Maddox while serving as Tallahassee mayor from 1997-2003.
Maddox was elected to his position on the Tallahassee city commission in 2012 and told then-city attorney that he had sold Governance and was divesting himself of the business.
According to federal agents, however, Maddox continued profiting from Governance while a city commissioner for six years.

Court documents show Carter-Smith started working with Maddox at Governance in 2003. She had previously served as chief of staff when Maddox was mayor and later became the owner of Governance. Federal agents assert Carter-Smith managed both Governance and Governance Services for Maddox and knowingly denied knowledge of his involvement in the business.

Maddox and Carter-Smith used Governance to extort money and accept bribes from clients.

The two are charged with lying to the FBI and to the Florida Commission on Ethics investigators regarding Maddox’s Governance ties.

Through Governance, federal officials say Maddox and Carter-Smith extorted money and accepted bribes from clients. The indictment alleges that Maddox used vote to make decisions that benefited he and Carter-Smith’s business. The indictment also alleges that they defrauded a bank of more that a quarter of a million dollars through bogus property short sales involving an office building on West Carolina Avenue and a North Adams Street house. Additionally they are accused of violating federal tax laws filing false returns.

If convicted they could face a max of 30 years for bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution, 20 years for racketeering conspiracy, extortion and honest fraud services fraud, five years for use of interstate facilities in furtherance of bribery, making false statements to federal officers and conspiracy to defraud the U.S., and three years for false statements on tax return.

Their first appearance is scheduled for Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the U.S. Courthouse in Tallahassee. Their trial date will be set at this hearing.

 

 

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