OKALOOSA PAIR SENTENCED IN MISSILE RANGE - LAND SWAP FRAUD

Pensacola, Florida - United States Attorney Gregory R. Miller, Northern District ofFlorida, announced today that United States District Court Judge Casey Rodgers sentenced STEVEN ALFORD and DAVID FLEET, convicted as charged on October 7, 2005, for defrauding investors in a land-swap deal in Okaloosa County, Florida.

Steven Alford received a federal prison term of 10 years for the land-swap fraud. FormerAssistant State Attorney and judicial candidate David Fleet will serve three years in federal prison. Fleet and Alford are also jointly and severally liable for the payment of over $12 million in restitution to victims Richard Massey and Thomas Becnel. Both will begin serving their sentences on May 1, 2006. Property previously seized from Alford, including jewelry, artwork,furniture and automobiles, will now be sold and the proceeds paid to the victims.

Alford’s sentence included punishment for a series of land flips in Okaloosa County which occurred around 1999. Alford plead guilty to those charges in January.

At trial, the United States proved that Alford and Fleet engaged in fraud when they solicited and took money from investors to finance the purchase of timberland in Taylor County, Florida. In exchange, the defendants promised the exclusive right to purchase the same valuable gulf-front lots to each investor. The gulf front property belongs to the Air Force, but Alford and Fleet assured several potential investors that they would soon acquire the land by swapping the Taylor County timberland which Eglin AFB wanted to use as a missile test range. The deal died shortly after it was proposed, and defendants never acquired any of the property involved in the deal. However, they continued to take and spend the investor’s money.

The defendants were convicted of all counts contained in the Superseding Indictment returned in August 2005. Included were thirteen counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commitmoney laundering, and 17 substantive money laundering counts. In addition, Fleet was convicted of making false statements to the FBI, and Alford was also convicted of making illegal campaign contributions, all in relation to the land swap deal.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Okaloosa CountySheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Financial Regulation, Bureau of FinancialInvestigations. The prosecution was handled by Assistant United States Attorney Michelle M.Heldmyer.