Lawyer indicted in $1.2M swindle

A former county attorney for Dixie County was behind bars Wednesday on federal charges alleging he was involved in two schemes that together garnered more than $1 million, one involving the fraudulent billing of developers and the other to convince people to invest in a vitamin business he claimed he was starting.

Joseph T. Lander, 39, was being held at the Alachua County jail following a court appearance at Gainesville's federal courthouse earlier Wednesday.

Lander, who entered a not guilty plea and told the court he would retain a private attorney, was being held at the jail pending a detention hearing.

An indictment against Lander alleges he "falsely represented to certain developers doing business before Dixie County, that the developers were required to pay a performance bond" to the county. He then deposited the money in a bank account he had opened under the name of "Lander Law Firm - Special Account."

Lander defrauded Dixie County citizens, its government and others "of the right to the intangible right of honest services performed free from deceit, favoritism, bias, self-enrichment, self-dealing, concealment, and conflict of interest," according to the indictment.

About $820,000 in funds was transmitted to Lander as payment, according to court records.

In another scheme, the indictment states Lander used his legal practice and position as county attorney to convince people to invest in a vitamin business.

Lander falsely claimed he had sales contracts with major retail stores and national and regional pharmacies and that he had financial backing from major celebrities and successful businesses.

Lander received about $400,000 in money, goods and services through his claims about the business, court records state.

Checks related to these operations were delivered and deposited between July 2005 and June 2006, according to the indictment.

Lander's case was the latest in a series of criminal cases filed in federal court against former and current public officials in Dixie and Levy counties. The cases appear to be part of an investigation into government corruption that became public in October when three former Dixie County officials were arrested by FBI agents at the courthouse in Cross City.

Those arrests were followed by the unsealing of indictments last month against four more government officials, two from Cross City and two from Levy County.

Former Dixie County commissioners John Lee "Big John" Driggers and Alton James Land as well as the county's former building and zoning inspector, Willie Dewey "Billy" Keen Jr., are accused of soliciting bribes and lying to FBI agents during a subsequent federal investigation. The bribes allegedly were in exchange for approving plans for unspecified developments.

Keen also was arrested and charged in September with stealing more than $5,000 in Community Development Block Grant assets from Dixie County.

Cross City officials Marcellus Dawson and Johnny Miller Green and Levy County commissioners William Samuel Yearty and Robert Anthony Parker are accused of conspiring and soliciting bribes in connection with their positions in government and offering their approval for developments in exchange for money or other incentives.

The day the indictments against the four became public, the Governor's Office issued orders suspending all four from office.