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on three counts of tac fraud. Scott sentenced the men to five years in prison, but spared them from jail by suspending their sentences and imposing four years' probation. Each was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and complete 120 hours of community service.



Scott announced his decision in a voice so low that U.S. Assistant Attorney James Gailey said he had trouble hearing.'This has been the most troubling trial I have ever faced in my judicial career,' Scott said. 'I delayed the sentencing twice for that reason.'

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Scott did not elaborate on his decision, and he did not return telephone calls to his office Wednesday afternoon. Both Montgomery and O'Keefe face a maximum sentence of 56 years under the jury's Oct. verdict.

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Sentencing originally had been set for Nov. 6, but Scott said he delayed the proceedings twice while he 'searched his conscience over and over again.' Instances in which the judge overrules a jury are rare.

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Jury foreman Francine Walton of Lauderdale Lades said Wednesday afternoon that she understood the judge's decision. The men should have been charged with bribery rather than extortion, she said.

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'But because of the way the jury was charged and the way the law reads, we felt we had no choice,' Walton said. Another juror, Ann Fast of Plantation, said she was shocked at Scott's action. 'I thought we came to an equitable decision,' Fast said. 'We were clear on the terminology. It wasn't anything we arrived at lightly.'

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Sunrise  City Council President Bill Colon, who called himself a political enemy of Montgomery, said Scott's decision ' made a mockery' of the jury system. 'This is a slap in the face to the citizens of Sunrise,' Colon said. 



In the extortion potion of the case against Montgomery and O'Keefe, the prosecution contended that a Georgia nursing-home builder paid the men, who own Nob Hill Realty in Sunrise, $112,000 in consulting fees to guarantee financing and approval for his project.



The two were charged with violating the federal Hobbs Act, a crime similar to bribery. But for conviction, the evidence must prove that the men accepted the payments in exchange for their votes, according to O'Keefe's attorney, Bruce Zimet. 'The judge found that the government had not proved that they demanded the money or that they were being paid for their votes,' Zimet said.



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