Windy March's Windless Visit

Unfortunately for myself, I was unable to attend Mr. March's actual visit to our public affairs class due to my internship. I was however, able to watch his visit from the previous semester on-line which was very beneficial in its own right.

March is the chief political political writer for the Tampa Tribune. Described by professor Gil Thelen as, "one of the most enterprising and tenacious reporters in this town."

March talked about the political side of public records and money laundering. A word that is often tossed around in Mafia movies, but I was never 100% clear on.

March then went on to explain a huge story he covered in 1996 where a man named Mark Jimenez who laundered money through not only his family, but also his work. Jiminez was the largest soft money donor to the Democratic Party donating roughly half-a-million dollars to various sections of the party.

March then explained in a step-by-step manner how to access the public records that he used to show Jimenez's wrong doing.

There is a limit to how much one particular person can donate to a political candidate. In order to side-step this facet of the law Jimenez gave $1,000 to his wife and children so that they could donate it to his political causes. This while illegal is very difficult to prove and often goes unchecked. However, Jimenez went one step further and provided money to his employees to the tune of $1,000 each to donate to his political causes. This sounds like an untraceable crime until you see the public records showing many of his employees donating the exact same amount of money to the exact same causes. This once again could all be coincidence until you look further into public records and see that one man in particular Ernesto Belfonte drove a car that cost less than $1,000, was registered to vote but had never voted once on anything and was by no means a rich man. So logical conclusion leads you to believe that a man who has shown no previous inkling of interest in politics is suddenly going to donate more money than his car is worth when he is in no financial situation to do so? March said not and charges were brought against both Jimenez and his company.

This just once against shows the almighty power of the public record. It also demonstrates the power of being a pro-active journalist and having the right instinct. If you think something is askew it probably is.