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Witness Against LaBrakes Fulfills Financial Sentence

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By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 14, 2007

TAMPA - The key witness who testified against former Tampa housing chief Steve LaBrake has fulfilled the financial terms of his sentence, court documents show.

Dean R. Ryan, a former builder, has 'paid or otherwise settled' a judge's 2005 order to pay $72,000 in restitution for taking bribes, according to a record filed this week in federal court.

LaBrake and his wife, Lynn, were convicted of more than 25 counts each of conspiracy and wire fraud and more than two dozen charges of accepting gratuities in November 2004.

Ryan had built the LaBrakes a 4,200-square-foot South Tampa luxury home for a cut-rate price in exchange for several inflated home-building contracts paid for with federal dollars.

He claimed during the trial that he didn't know he was committing a crime until he met with federal agents several times. His testimony was considered crucial to the government's case against the LaBrakes, which involved explaining a complex trail of money to jurors.

Steve and Lynn LaBrake remain in prison after a judge sentenced them to five years and nearly 3 1/2 years in prison, respectively.

Monday's 'satisfaction of judgment' filing does not affect other aspects of Ryan's sentence, which included six months of house arrest and five years' probation. No motions have been filed seeking relief from probation.

Reporter Anthony McCartney can be reached at (813) 259-7616 or amccartney @tampatrib.com.

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