U.S. Attorney John O'Neill Investigating Corruption

Adam Smith of The Saint Petersberg Times really went out on a limb by declaring Kevin White the political loser of the week. I disagree with Smith on declaring Mitt "I'm unemployed" the winner of the week. Romney's visit to Tampa was a disaster.

The real winner of the week was U.S. Attorney John O'Neill. Not only did O'Neill get a 10 count indictment on White, O'Neill is making progress on the Jim Norman corruption case. It appears O'Neill is investigating Norman's aide Ben Kelly.

Kelly began working as Norman's commission aide in 1996, earning $24,960 year, according to county personnel records. He was making $71,928 a year when he left the county in November 2010 to join Norman in Tallahassee. Kelly earns $63,000 annually as Norman's Senate aide.

Kelly worked on Norman's campaigns for county commission, and served as campaign treasurer for Norman's Senate run.

Kelly and his wife, Heather, were paid $31,480 for work on Norman's Senate campaign from August 2008 through October 2010, according to Florida Division of Elections records.

O'Neill is aggressively investigating corruption with members of both political parties. Tampa has had its share of political corruption. We finally have a U.S. Attorney that wants to hold elected officials accountable for their misdeeds. That makes the people of Hillsborough County the winners of the week.