Lee County turns over e-mails to FBI
Sox' new complex at heart of inquiry
Florida's Lee County turned over e-mails that included terms related to the building of a new spring training facility for the Red Sox to the FBI at the agency's request. The team said it has no connection to the inquiry, despite the apparent inclusion of a member of its minor league operations staff among the search terms specified by the FBI.
On March 4, the FBI requested any e-mails from Lee County Manager Donald Stilwell and three of his employees that included 36 search terms. The terms were connected to Lee County officials and included possible locations and developers for the new Sox spring training complex. Two of the terms, listed in order, were "Todd" and "Stephenson." Todd Stephenson is the Red Sox' director of Florida business operations.
Stephenson declined comment in an e-mail last night, referring questions to the team's public relations staff. He told the Fort Myers News-Press in Wednesday's editions that the names referred to someone else.
"I honestly have no idea" what this is about, Stephenson said, according to the News-Press.
"We learned of the FBI request late" Tuesday, Red Sox vice president for public affairs Susan Goodenow said in a statement. "The request was directed to Lee County and, as such, we will not have any comment."
Aside from the statement, the Red Sox remained mostly mum on the matter. When asked if the FBI had contacted the Sox, team president Larry Lucchino said, "I don't know - has the team been contacted? I really don't know anything. I just know that Lee County received a subpoena."
Lucchino asked about the FBI's contact with the Red Sox to make a point about how far removed the organization is from the FBI's request for e-mails. Lucchino said it is his "understanding" that the issue concerned Lee County and not the Red Sox. He referred additional questions to members of the Sox' public relations staff, who were "much more current," he said.
FBI spokesman David Couvertier confirmed the agency had made a written request for information through the Lee County Attorney's Office, but he declined further comment as to why agents are seeking the e-mails. The FBI's written request does not mention the Red Sox.
In December, the Red Sox agreed to a 30-year deal with Lee County to keep their spring training facility in Fort Myers. As part of the deal, the county agreed to build a new spring training complex. The announcement of the site, whittled to four choices, is scheduled for next week.
The search terms "Galvano," "Waterman," "Freeman," "Edison Farms," and "University" were also included in the FBI's list of search terms. They are, according to the News-Press, developers vying for the project.
Stilwell told the News-Press that the FBI will not find any wrongdoing in the e-mails. He told the newspaper the e-mails are public record and anyone could view them.
"Either you do or you don't have integrity," Stilwell told the News-Press. "And this organization has great integrity."
Lee County commissioner Tammy Hall did not respond to a message left last night. She told the Associated Press on Wednesday, "This has been a very, very public process. No one from the community or internally has contacted my office and said, 'Hey, this process has been unfair.' "
Adam Kilgore can be reached at akilgore@globe.com 
