Gary Siplin Is A Lucky Guy

Sen. Gary Siplin went in front of the State Commission of Ethics for allegedly threatening to have a female law enforcement officer fired. Brenda Averill pulled Siplin over for driving down a closed road. The ethics charge was later dropped. Siplin was later convicted of third degree grand theft. The conviction was later overturned. Siplin had another ethics complaint filed against. Siplin once again comes out on the winning side.

The commission had previously found in 2009 that Siplin had abused his power as state senator by attempting to go around a barricade and gain access to a parking space by mentioning his status as state senator, reports the News Service of Florida. But the Fifth District Court of Appeal found earlier this year that there was no evidence to suggest Siplin had abused his power as state senator. The commission then was required to go along with the appeals court decision and issued a final order that said Siplin’s behavior “did not rise to the legal definition of acting corruptly,” and did not violate state law. “It’s over, it’s done, finally,” said attorney Mark Herron, who represented Siplin at the Florida Commission on Ethics hearing Friday. Herron said Siplin was entitled to use the parking space through a special permit.

It is good to be Gary Siplin.