FDLE probe into ex-zoo boss will 'die on the vine,' his attorney says

An attorney for Lex Salisbury said today that the former president of Lowry Park Zoo won't be charged with any crimes after a city audit revealed he took supplies and animals to help start his private exotic-animal park.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement hasn't even interviewed Salisbury, attorney Robert McKee said today.

"That's not going anywhere," McKee said of the investigation. "It will die on the vine."

A FDLE spokeswoman said Friday the agency continues to investigate Salisbury's actions.
McKee made the comment today after he released a statement from Salisbury about a financial settlement with his former employer.

"I believe that the final resolution of this dispute supports the absence of any wrongdoing on my part," Salisbury said in the statement.

City auditors were determined to "get Lex" rather than find the truth, Salisbury said in the statement.

"My only regret is that the zoo, through its board of directors (which includes the mayor and other city of Tampa and Hillsborough County officials), chose to presume that I acted dishonestly and set out to try to prove it by commissioning a taxpayer-funded audit," the statement said. "I am pleased the board of directors has finally realized that the 'findings' contained in the audit would not have withstood the scrutiny they would have been subjected to in a court of law."

Santiago Corrada, the city's representative on the zoo board, said the city's inquiry into the Salisbury's dealings was never personal. The city, which owns the land and the animals, got involved after a Tampa Tribune investigation showed he used zoo money, staff and supplies in his efforts to start a for-profit exotic animal park in Polk County, called Safari Wild.

"It's not about Lex, and getting Lex," Corrada said today. "Everybody knows what came out of it."

The board asked Salisbury to resign from his $339,000-a-year job in December, a couple of weeks after the release of the preliminary audit.

The audit, initiated by Mayor Pam Iorio, found more than $200,000 in expenditures that appeared to inappropriately benefit Salisbury and his business venture. Auditors found that Salisbury gave himself an unauthorized bonus, took a zoo-paid side trip to Paris after a conference and traded the zoo an antique Mercedes safari vehicle for a lawnmower.

In the agreement, Salisbury agreed to pay back the inappropriate expenses auditors identified and pay to return $150,000 in barns, shade structures and fencing the zoo built at Safari Wild. The fences were built as part of a now-voided agreement between Safari Wild and the zoo's chairman.

After the audit's release, Salisbury billed the zoo $48,644 for boarding its animals at his private Dade City ranch and Safari Wild.

Zoo officials disputed the bill but said they agreed to pay it to avoid a protracted and expensive legal fight. McKee said he wasn't sure of the specifics of the animal boarding bill, including which animals were included. He said the bill went back several years.

Salisbury's final tally comes to $ $2,212. He will give the zoo a check this week, McKee said.

Salisbury continues to assert that all of his activities were in the best interest of the zoo.

"Since the beginning of this controversy, I have maintained that I never took any action to enrich myself at the expense of the zoo," he said.

Salisbury's statement noted his accomplishments during his 21-year tenure, including boosting income from $200,000 a year to $20 million.

Salisbury did not attend today's news conference.

"He's a businessman," McKee said. "And he has moved on to his next venture."

That venture is Safari Wild, a 260-acre tourist attraction north of downtown Lakeland. The project remains stalled by state and county permitting issues.

"I feel this is the next logical step in providing the best possible environment for captive wildlife," Salisbury said in the statement.