The Political Whore

UPDATE: It was Judge Stringer! Feds announced the charges today. Our condolences to all the Buddy haters out there.

The St. Petersburg Times blows up the buzz in downtown Tampa today with the revelation that a federal public corruption case is just about to pop.

From the story:

During a public interview Wednesday for his office’s top job, a high-ranking federal prosecutor from Tampa said he is close to charging a public official with public corruption.

The person has agreed to plead guilty, said Robert O’Neill, chief of the criminal division for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa.

He did not name the public official. He noted that the case resulted from allegations he learned about in the newspaper.

Find out the leading suspects and take our poll about who you think it is, after the jump:

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It was just a matter of time. Because, despite what common sense might tell us fun-loving guys, you can be buddies with a stripper, loan her lots of money and take trips across the country to see her AND be a federal district judge at the same time.

Thomas Stringer resigned his post yesterday, as he faced a judicial inquiry into the relationship and its related finances.

TBO reports:

If Stringer was found to have helped exotic dancer Christy Yamanaka hide assets from creditors, he could have lost his post, the commission said.

The commission’s six-page filing from the commission came after News Channel 8 and The Tampa Tribune outlined Stringer and Yamanaka’s financial dealings last year.

According to the six-page report:

*Stringer opened bank accounts in his name and the name of a friend of Yamanaka’s to hide assets and income from 2004 to 2007, when she was obligated to pay two creditors about $315,000 plus interest.

*He allowed himself to be listed as the sole titleholder of a house in Hawaii purchased with Yamanaka’s money to hide her interest in the property from creditors.

*He allowed Yamanaka to use bank accounts in his name to make large cash deposits and transfer money to other accounts.