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A former Tallahassee Mayor and city lobbyist are facing a maximum of 45 years in a Federal prison after pleading guilty to three counts in a case stemming from an FBI probe into City Hall that had implications in last year’s Governor’s race.

Three-time statewide candidate, former Tallahassee Mayor and City Commissioner Scott Maddox and lobbyist Paige Carter Smith were silent as they entered the federal courthouse.

The two faced 47 counts stemming from an FBI probe that began in 2015.

They emerged after pleading guilty to mail, wire, and tax fraud in a pay to play scheme, where at least two companies, including an unnamed ride share company, paid for Maddox’s vote during his time on the city commission.

Maddox declined to comment, but his attorney Stephen Dobson said his client was ready to accept responsibility.

“He wants to move on for his life, his family’s life and Tallahassee and he hopes Tallahassee heals,” said Dobson.

The two face a maximum of 45 years in prison and $750,000 in fines, but they could receive a lighter sentence if they cooperate with the Federal Government.

“We hope that these defendants will now come forward, fully accept their responsibility and cooperate,” said US Attorney of Florida’s Norther District Lawrence Keefe.

For local property owner Erwin Jackson, who has long sought to expose corruption in the capital city, the prospect of a lighter sentence is upsetting.

“So far what we’ve heard is that crime does pay, white collar crime does pay,” said Jackson.

Federal prosecutors declined to say if more indictments may be on the way for other city officials or companies that may have offered bribes for votes.

The probe into City Hall was used as political fodder against former Tallahassee Mayor and Gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum.

Earlier this year the FBI subpoenaed records from Gillum’s Gubernatorial campaign, although Gillum hasn’t been directly named in the Maddox case.

There’s also a third defendant facing nine counts, JT Burnett, a local Tallahassee businessman who is set to go to trial in November.

Maddox and Carter Smith are scheduled to be sentenced on November 19th.

While the other charges in the case were dropped, the judge said facts relating to those charges could influence the sentence he imposes.

For the first time in history, the US government is looking allow states to import lower cost prescription drugs.

The federal law allowing drug imports has been around since 2003, but Florida could be one of the first to see the benefits.

Importing cheaper prescription drugs to Florida was one of the most hotly contested fights of the 2019 legislative session.

Drug companies and their associations spent more than $6 million dollars on television trying to defeat the state legislation allowing the imports this past Spring.

The Governor pushed back against claims that importing drugs from Canadian would have a higher chance of being counterfeit.

“The safety is going to be there, and if not there, then we wouldn’t want to do it,” said DeSantis.

Cheaper imports require federal approval, which has never been given before, but Florida’s Governor had the ear of the President.

“I talked to the President personally about this. He believes you can save a lot of money with Canada drugs,” said DeSantis.

The Federal Government said Wednesday it would begin the process, with the President tweeting the plan would make the Governor happy.

“It is very encouraging news,” said retiree Charlie Benz, who advocated for the legislation. “And my friends. I’m seeing the high cost of drugs impact their qualities of life. They used to visit their grand kids three or four times a year. Now they can only visit them once or twice.”

Even though Florida pharmacies would be able to apply to import foreign drugs to sell to customers, the association that represents the industry said it still has concerns.

“We are not convinced that all of the safety, the safety factors are in place,” said Michael Jackson with the Florida Pharmacy Association.

While cheaper prices may be on their way it could take months to develop rules, then fight legal challenges.

Still this is the first time since 2003 the Federal Government has said it would put an importation plan in motion.

The case against Florida’s 24-hour waiting period to receive an abortion is headed back to a lower court after an appeals court decided a lower court erred declaring it unconstitutional.

Despite passing in 2015, Florida’s law mandating a 24-hour waiting period before woman can get an abortion was only enforced briefly in 2016.

The ACLU argued the law was negatively impacting women, and successfully got the State Supreme Court to block the waiting period again in 2017.

“Women suffered. Women missed work and wages they would not have otherwise had to lose. Women experienced sickness that could have been avoided,” said ACLU Attorney Julia Kaye in 2016.

Last year a circuit court judge ruled the waiting period unconstitutional based on the privacy clause in the state constitution, but now an appellate court has ordered the case return to the lower court for a full trial.

Ingrid Delgado with the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops said it will allow the state to strengthen its argument.

“To bring forward some new women who regret their abortions when they didn’t have a reflection period,” said Delgado.

27 states currently have waiting periods in effect.

Many have been up held by either their own state supreme courts or the US Supreme Court, however those states don’t have the same constitutional privacy rights as Florida.

But the state Supreme Court has a new Conservative leaning.

The ideological shift is another positive sign for pro-life groups.

“Especially when we know that we can bring forward evidence that wasn’t considered in the past. Again, with physicians for example testifying to the fact that this is already the accepted standard of care,” said Delgado.

Benjamin Stevenson a staff attorney with the ACLU of Florida said in a statement, “We are disappointed that the court failed to recognize what we all know—a 24-hour delay was designed to and plainly does unnecessarily restrict access to safe and legal reproductive health care. We look forward to proving these facts at trial.”

The ACLU, while disappointed in the decision to send the case back to a lower court, said it’s happy the 2017 Supreme Court injunction will still prevent the law from taking effect for the time being.