A former US county attorney has gone on trial in the Florida Keys accused of using bribes to pay for the Cork holiday home of a local mayor.
A federal jury is to hear FBI wire tap conversations of former Monroe County attorney James Hendrick allegedly discussing how he would lie about the payments on the Cork home and urging a Key West mayor to flee to Cork before the FBI closed in.
Mr Hendrick, who served as attorney for Monroe County for seven years up to 2002, is accused of paying $29,000 (€22,402) into an Irish bank account to help pay for the Baltimore, Co Cork house of former Monroe County mayor John "Jack" London. Monroe County includes both Key West and Key Largo and is one of the most lucrative holiday home markets in America.
Mr London was caught at a Florida airport while allegedly trying to flee to Cork in 2004. He died of natural causes while awaiting sentencing on tax evasion charges for disguising the payments on his Irish home.
Mr Hendrick is charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, witness tampering and obstruction of justice and faces up to ten years in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors say that Mr Hendrick, Mr London and political consultant Randy Hilliard conspired to give zoning approval to a Florida holiday resort investor in exchange for a $75,000 bribe.
The US attorney's office claims that in December 1997, Mr Hendrick used some of this money to fill out cheques that were sent to Mr London to pay off debts on his Cork holiday home. Mr Hilliard later became a co-operating witness and agreed to record eight phone calls and three in-person conversations he had with Mr Hendrick.
According to the indictment, the tapes will show how Mr Hendrick planned to disguise the bribe for the Cork home as a political consultancy payment.
Prosecutors also say the tapes will show how Mr Hendrick pleaded with Mr London to flee to Ireland to avoid appearing before a grand jury.