Former Citizens President Cleared of Waterway Excavation Infraction

The former president of Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. has been found not guilty by a federal jury after he was charged with excavating a channel without authorization at his waterfront mansion.

Thomas Grady, now the chairman of the Florida Board of Education, has been at the center of the governor’s effort to bar local school districts from requiring masks for students and staff. Some have suggested that the federal waterway charges were politically motivated by federal authorities who have advocated mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“They tried to bully him into pleading guilty, but he had the courage to stand up, which very few folks — even innocent people — have,” Grady’s attorney, David Markus, told the Miami Herald newspaper.

Grady, a wealthy securities lawyer who also was once head of the Florida Office of Financial Regulations, was accused in September with illegally excavating a waterway at his Florida Keys home without approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He was charged with violating the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899, a misdemeanor.

Grady maintained that he obtained all the necessary approval from local, state and federal agencies. The contractor on the job also testified that he believed that all needed permits had been obtained, according to news reports.

Grady, a former legislator who also maintains a residence in Naples, Florida, has been a controversial figure in Florida for the past decade. During his short stint at the Office of Financial Regulation, part of the Department of Financial Services, he reportedly spent more than $16,000 on travel and office furniture while closing agency offices around the state, according to news outlets.

In 2012 he was named president of Citizens, the state-backed insurer of last resort. There, Grady also was scrutinized for $10,000 in expenses, including posh hotels during a trip to Bermuda. Then-Gov. Rick Scott appointed Grady to the education board in 2015.