JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The two men charged in a citywide corruption scandal were not in federal court Tuesday, but the proceedings offered a glimpse at how their legal defense may unfold.
Attorneys for JEA former chief executive Aaron Zahn and former chief financial officer Ryan Wannemacher told the judge they plan to ask for a change of venue in the high-profile case. They also said they want to sever the case in order to try each man independently. They even pushed the judge to dismiss the criminal indictment altogether, arguing that it was irrevocably tainted by two prior city investigations of the men, which occurred in the public eye.
Zahn and Wannamaker are charged with conspiracy and wire fraud, which prosecutors say occurred during the failed sale of the city owned utility. Prosecutors claim the men knew that a proposed benefit plan they created would allow them to pocket millions if JEA was sold.
Both have pleaded not guilty.
Attorney James Felman, who represents Wannemacher, told U.S. District Judge Brian Davis he “doesn’t even know what is a realistic trial date,” given what he said were the unique complexities of the case and the volume of information turned over in discovery – in excess of three terabytes.
He also noted that the two defendants were compelled to speak to city officials investigating the JEA scandal, which referred to as "immunized testimony." The fact that that their testimony was then publicized -- theoretically available to grand jurors, case witnesses and even prosecutors -- Felman said, was "like putting a drop of ink in a glass of water. I don’t think the taint can ever be removed.”
Felman said the only solution he could see was "dismissing this indictment and starting over, with a new prosecution team," along with appointing some kind of "taint team" to shield government players from the content of earlier investigations.
Federal Prosecutor Tysen Duva denied relying on the defendant's immunized testimonies, saying his office "didn't read it online, didn't look it up online" and didn't use it to build their case. He said the central claims of the indictment were built on Zahn's public statement that "I am responsible for the PUP [the benefit plan] -- that was my idea," and Wannemacher's public denial that he ever calculated the value of PUP payouts. (Prosecutors say they found those calculations in a spreadsheet on Wannemacher's city computer.)
Judge Davis did not issue any rulings, noting that despite the vigorous arguments presented by defense lawyers, no motions have yet been filed. He urged attorneys to “bring the same energy” they did to their Tuesday arguments “to the work that has to be done” to get the case moving.
No trial date has been set. Prosecutor are asking for a March 23, 2023 trial, but defense attorney said due to “the enormity of the evidence,” they would need at least until May 2023.