Former State Fair Authority director agrees to pay $7,500 fine to settle ethics complaint

TAMPA — Charles Pesano resigned as executive director of the Florida State Fair Authority in 2016 after an investigation found he funneled fair business to his family's company and accepted Tampa Bay Rays tickets and a hot tub from fair vendors and business partners.Three years later, the episode is hitting him in the wallet.Pesano, 66, has agreed to pay a $7,500 fine to the Florida Commission on Ethics to settle a complaint against him by Pinellas County political activist Tom Rask, according to a stipulation agreement Pesano signed this month. A review by a commission advocate found probable cause to support six of the 11 alleged violations of state law that prohibit public officials from accepting gifts and conducting business with their own agency.Pesano will also receive a public censure and reprimand if the Ethics Commission approves the agreement at its meeting Friday in Tallahassee. READ MORE: Florida State Fair executive director resigned after accepting Rays tickets and hot tub Pesano, who was paid $146,250 a year, submitted his resignation Feb. 24, 2016, a day after the inspector general with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services concluded that there was evidence to show he did business with the Fair Authority; entered into conflicting relationships; and accepted gifts from fair vendors, sponsors and business partners. Adam Putnam, the state commissioner of agriculture at the time, told Pesano he would be terminated from the post he'd held for 11 years. Pesano asked if he could resign instead, commission records show, and he was allowed to do so.The inspector general's findings were forwarded to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which concluded there was not enough evidence to file criminal charges against him. But the Ethics Commission advocate concluded there was evidence to warrant a penalty by the commission. READ MORE: Investigators find insufficient evidence against former state fair executive director Pesano "was vested with certain authority as the FSFA executive director and the apparent ability to impact and contract with vendors and sponsors," Elizabeth A. Miller, a lawyer serving as an advocate for the Ethics Commission, wrote in summary report. "He used the prestige of his office to gain a personal advantage and access perks."Among the findings:• Pesano suggested that employees at Cracker Country, a sprawling history museum on the fairgrounds, purchase candles from his family business, Seventh Avenue Apothecary, and offer them for sale to visitors. An employee who ordered merchandise for Cracker Country told investigators she wasn't told to purchase candles but felt obligated, even though they were not the type that would be found in the 1800s and early 1900s. Pesano approved the purchase of $618 in candles, a clear conflict of interest, the Ethics Commission report said. He also routinely mentioned the candle business during meetings with fair vendors and sponsors.• Pesano told investigators his family's candle company "bartered" with Spa Manufacturers, a fair vendor, to install a hot tub valued at $3,846 at his Valrico home in exchange for an open tab for candles. • Pesano and his family members accepted at least $823 in catered food and beverages and about $977 in admission tickets to sporting events from Centerplate, an exclusive food service vendor of the Fair Authority and concessionaire for the Tampa Bay Rays at the time. Pesano also accepted complimentary access to the private Hancock Club at Tropicana Field.• Pesano asked Fair Authority employees to make a dozen business signs for Seventh Avenue Apothecary and was billed well below the market rate. The Ethics Commission report notes that Pesano was billed $142.60 for four of the signs. For comparison, a state investigator got an estimate from another shop that quoted a price of $1,067.• Pesano used his fair authority email account to conduct business for the candle company and for an investment holding company he owns.Pesano "enters into this stipulation with the understanding of the seriousness of the allegations and gives his assurance that this proceeding has affected the manner in which he conducts himself as a public official in a positive way," the stipulation agreement says. Pesano has not a held a public sector job since he resigned.Pesano's attorney, Mark Herron of Tallahassee, said he had no comment and referred a reporter to the stipulation agreement.In an interview, Rask said he filed the complaint because it appeared Pesano wasn't going to be held accountable for his actions. Rask called the stipulated penalty "wholly insufficient" and said Pesano should have been criminally charged and sentenced to prison time."If you walk into a convenience store and wave a water pistol and demand money you for sure will go to prison, but white collar crime is not a priority in Florida," Rask said."It seems state and local law enforcement can never find public corruption even in broad daylight and with a flashlight. Even 30 days in prison is worse for a white collar criminal than a fine." Contact Tony Marrero at tmarrero@tampabay.com or (813) 226-3374. Follow @tmarrerotimes.

Former State Fair Authority director agrees to pay $7,500 fine to settle ethics complaint

MORE FOR YOU

ONLY AVAILABLE FOR SUBSCRIBERS