Sen. Jim Norman could still face fines for failing to disclose a $500,000 Arkansas home his wife purchased with the help of the late Tampa businessman Ralph Hughes, the Tampa Bay Times reported this weekend.
According to the paper, the Florida Commission on Ethics on Friday found probable cause to investigate his failure to disclose the home, but cleared the Senator of related conflict of interest complaints.
“All the serious charges were dropped and cleared, and I’m very happy about that,” Norman told the Times. “Basically it’s a reporting issue.”
This fall, the federal investigators closed a criminal probe and announced they would not bring charges. Friday’s hearing was not part of the commission’s public agenda and was not open to the public or the press.