A Leon County circuit judge Friday entered a judgment of more than $352,000 against a former North Florida prosecutor who was sent to prison on corruption charges.
The State Board of Administration, which oversees retirement funds, filed a lawsuit in February against Jeffrey Siegmeister, who drew more than $345,000 from a retirement account before pleading guilty to the corruption charges. The lawsuit sought to recover the money.
Siegmeister, an inmate at a federal prison camp in Pensacola, did not respond to the lawsuit.
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That led Friday to Circuit Judge J. Lee Marsh entering what is known as a default judgment against Siegmeister for $352,553, which includes the amount the state sought to recover, interest, and costs.
Siegmeister, 55, served from 2013 to 2019 as state attorney in the 3rd Judicial Circuit in Columbia, Dixie, Hamilton, Lafayette, Madison, Suwannee and Taylor counties.
He pleaded guilty last year to federal conspiracy, wire-fraud and tax charges that, in part, involved allegations that he sought bribes from a defense attorney in exchange for giving favorable treatment to the attorney’s clients.
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The conspiracy charges related to bribery and extortion. Information attached to the lawsuit said Siegmeister received four distributions, totaling $345,524, in 2020 from his 401(k)-style investment plan account in the Florida Retirement System.
The lawsuit pointed to part of the Florida Constitution that says public officials convicted of felonies “involving a breach of the public trust” forfeit their retirement benefits.
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