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Dismissal Of Gillum's Worthless-Check Charge Explained

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By DAVID SOMMER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 19, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - A worthless-check charge against former Pasco County Sheriff Jim Gillum was dropped this week in part because the landlord who made the complaint never officially tried to cash it.

"Further investigation found the check was held for three days and wasn't cashed at a bank," Assistant State Attorney Eric Rosario said Friday.

Gillum, now 64 and living in Deltona, was charged with the first-degree misdemeanor in a direct filing by state prosecutors in March.

The former lawman became the subject of an arrest warrant after he failed to appear at a hearing in April at which he was supposed to enter a plea on the charge, which carried a punishment of up to one year behind bars.

Gillum spent a few hours in the Volusia County Jail before posting bail in May after deputies tracked him down on Florida's east coast.

He was supposed to appear in court this week to again answer to the charge, but the hearing was canceled after the charge was dropped. Gillum also had his driving privilege restored.

He could not be reached for comment.

Rosario said his office did not have a copy of Gillum's lease at the time the charge was filed.
Subsequent investigation revealed that the ex-sheriff had a written promise from landlord Lisa Egan in which she agreed to hold the first rent check of $1,200 on a home on Laurel Vista Loop in Port Richey for at least three days before trying to cash it.

"Somehow she knew there were insufficient funds" in Gillum's account to pay the check after the three days were up, and there are no markings on the check to show it was ever processed at a bank, Rosario said.

That made the charge unsustainable, even if the check was worthless, the prosecutor said.

Gillum served two four-year terms before leaving office in 1992 after being defeated in the Republican primary. His downfall came after a messy divorce and a well-publicized affair with an aide.

He twice tried unsuccessfully to regain his former office, running for sheriff in 1996 and in 2000.

Prior to his initial election in 1984, Gillum worked as a Tampa police officer from 1968-80.

Reporter David Sommer can be reached at (727) 815-1087 or dsommer@tampatrib.com.

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