The federal criminal trial of former JEA executives Aaron Zahn and Ryan Wannemacher entered its final stage March 14 as jurors began deliberations.
Senior U.S. District Judge Brian Davis issued instructions separately to the trial’s two juries, one for each defendant. The Zahn jury began its deliberations at 9:46 a.m., followed by the Wannemacher jury at 10:44 a.m.
Zahn and Wannemacher are charged with conspiracy and wire fraud, with the government alleging that they schemed to steal tens of millions of dollars from the publicly owned utility through an incentive plan that would have been triggered by a sale of the city-owed utility.
The deliberations started on the 20th day of the trial, which began with jury selection on Feb. 15 at the Bryan Simpson U.S. Courthouse.
The trial centers on events surrounding votes by the JEA board in July 2019 to approve the implementation of the incentive plan and initiate a process that could have led to the sale of JEA.
Prosecutors claim Zahn and Wannemacher deceived the board about the potential payouts of the incentive plan while also presenting a false narrative to board members that JEA was failing financially and needed to be sold in order to be salvaged.
The narrative included offering the board three scenarios for the future of JEA, including one that involved eliminating more than 400 staff positions, raising rates by 26% and cutting off the utility’s annual financial contribution to the city.
A key element of the government’s case was a November 2019 analysis from the City Council auditor’s office that showed that the incentive plan could pay out in excess of $300 million to the pool of plan participants through the sale of JEA. Four board members testified that when they approved the plan, they believed it would pay $3 million to $4 million.
Defense attorneys told jurors in their closing arguments that there was no conspiracy or fraud. Zahn’s lead attorney, Eddie Suarez, described his client as an innovative, private-sector outsider who brought fresh ideas to JEA and relied on attorneys and subject-matter experts to vet them.
Suarez said Zahn followed attorneys’ advice when he announced days before the issuance of the auditor’s report that JEA was indefinitely postponing implementation of the plan.
Wannemacher’s attorney, Jim Felman, told jurors that his client committed no crimes, but rather followed orders in creating a formula for the plan, presenting it to board members and truthfully answering questions about it.
Both attorneys suggested their clients were victims of political scapegoating. Suarez called the auditor’s office a “deep state, unelected bureaucracy.”
Felman, noting that former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry supported using funding from a sale of JEA to pay off debts and fund infrastructure projects, said he believed the scenarios were “used as last-minute political cover” to protect Curry from possible backlash against the sale and were “not scripted by Mr. Wannemacher.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tysen Duva told jurors that the defendants attempted to “fleece the city of Jacksonville based on a fake stock option, which was going to produce tens of millions if not hundreds of millions of dollars if JEA sold.”
He said Zahn and Wannemacher weren’t scapegoated and that Suarez’s comments about a deep state indicate he “watches too much TV.”
If convicted, Zahn and Wannemacher each face sentences of up to 25 years in prison.