JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Those at the heart of what’s being called Jacksonville’s largest fraud case are speaking out Wednesday.
Now that the ex-CEO of JEA Aaron Zahn is headed to federal prison for his scheme in 2019 to steal millions of dollars from the city of Jacksonville, JEA union members past and present spoke with First Coast News about their thoughts on the sentence and what it was like fearing in 2019 that hundreds of them could lose their jobs.
Zahn was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison. During his trial and sentencing, Zahn was described as using JEA workers as pawns in his plan. One of his proposals involved laying off nearly 30 percent of the workforce.
Former and current JEA union leaders Raymond Olan, Jr. and Ronnie Burris said there are still impacts from the scandal.
“I think he deserved more,” Burris said.
Burris said Zahn made JEA workers fear they would lose their jobs.
“A lot of my members, I’ve known since they were six, seven years old,” Burris said. “So they’re family to me.”
Burris called it a difficult time.
“To know that I was negotiating a contract that was gonna make them lose their job, it was concerning and it was difficult,” he said.
Olan also believes Zahn’s sentence should have been harsher.
“He knew what he was doing,” Olan said. “He was gonna get paid big money so that to me shows greed and no consideration for the people he was representing.”
Olan said unions were prepared to fight.
“They were lying through their teeth,” he said. “And they were being disrespectful, if you ask me. They were treating me like I’m an imbecile, an idiot. Nah, I'm not.”
Though Zahn may be away in prison, these men say Jacksonville will not forget the man they said “backstabbed” their city.
“What they can’t do is erase this from their memory,” Burris said. “You were gonna take their livelihoods away.”
Zahn’s defense attorney said Tuesday they plan to appeal the sentence. First Coast News reached out to them Wednesday afternoon for comment and is waiting to hear back.