The Political Whore

Rhodes, after a deputy beat the snot out of him shoved him to the ground during his arrest.

On his return to the air weeks after his arrest.

From the St. Petersburg Times:

Rhodes, 50, was supposed to be tried today on charges tied to his Jan. 16 arrest. But the trial was continued until Wednesday because his attorney was awaiting transcripts from a previous hearing.

Now, instead of going to trial, Rhodes will plead no contest on Wednesday to a misdemeanor obstruction charge, defense attorney Jeff Brown said.

As part of the plea deal, Rhodes will serve 50 hours of community service. Adjudication will be withheld, meaning he will not have a conviction on his record.

OK, so this was shot long before former wrestler and Hillsborough politician Brian Blair’s arrest on child abuse charges this weekend, but we’re pretty sure here at PoHo Central that the always erudite Iron Sheik feels the same way about that “jabroni” Blair today as he did back in March.

Full video after the jump:

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In video now just hitting TV news websites, Brian Blair calls the family fight and his arrest “an unfortunate situation” and “a misunderstanding that could have been prevented.”

Fox 13’s Warren Elly has a report on that station’s website, here is the link (sorry, but the video didn’t embed into our software.)

According to Elly’s story, Blair told reporters on the way out of jail:

“It’s a misunderstanding that could have been prevented. I have over 7,000 hours mentoring children and the last thing I’d ever do is hurt a kid. Sometimes the hardest kids to mentor are you own. I guess that’s all I’ll say for now,” Blair told FOX 13.

Elly came by Creative Loafing before Blair’s release and I taped a short interview about what this does to Blair’s political career. Blair told reporters upon his release that his supporters would understand his actions once they hear the full story, but I’m kind of doubting that. Blair is not dead politically in the sense that he won’t ever quit the game, but he can’t possibly win public office after this.

At a first appearance hearing this morning, a judge has ordered that jailed former Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair be released on his own recognizance, without any bond posted, commonly referred to as ROR. Blair likely won’t clear the jail’s long release process until this afternoon.

According to one reporter at the scene, Blair’s wife, Toni, spoke briefly to media to say only that her sons were fine, but she made no other comment.

Blair was arrested this weekend and charged with two counts of child abuse after getting into a fight with his teenage sons, shown in this photograph from his campaign website Blair continues to maintain.

Brian Blair’s Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office booking mug shot

Brian Blair, defeated Hillsborough County Commissioner, sore loser and, now, criminal defendant.

From ABC Action News:

Brian Blair, the former pro wrestler and Hillsborough County commissioner, is facing child abuse charges after he allegedly got into a scuffle with his teenage boys.

Blair, 52, was arrested his home on 12702 Boulevard N shortly after 5 am and booked into the Orient Road Jail at 12:45 p.m, jail records show.

According to Hillsborough Sheriff’s spokesman Larry McKinnon, Blair got into an argument with his two two teen-aged sons that turned physical, sheriff’s Deputy Larry McKinnon said.

“It was a family argument between him and his sons and during the altercation at least one was battered,” McKinnon said.

The Times adds these details from the arrest report:

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