Sarasota Politician Wrote Reference Letter For Friend In College Admissions Scandal

SARASOTA, FL — City Commissioner Hagen Brody offered a character reference for a former Sarasota High School tennis player at the center of the Operation Varsity Blues college admissions scandal.

In the 2019 scandal, wealthy families paid for help getting their children into elite colleges and universities. Dozens have faced various charges, including actress Lori Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, who both spent several months in prison.

Mark Riddell, 39, of Palmetto was sentenced in a federal court in Boston last week for his role in the scandal as a test taker who accepted nearly $240,000 to cheat on the ACT and SAT exams, as well as other tests, according to a Department of Justice news release.

The former IMG Academy employee was accused of taking college entrance exams in the United States and Canada for students using a fake ID and also posing as a proctor at exams and correcting students’ answers, the DOJ said.

After pleading guilty to charges related to the scandal, Riddell was sentenced to four months in prison and two years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and must forfeit $239,449.

Among the evidence taken into consideration by Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton in his case, was a letter from Brody written Nov. 4, just a day before his one-year term as the city’s appointed mayor ended, on city letterhead.

In the letter, the commissioner wrote that he had been friends with Riddell since they played tennis together at Sarasota High School.

“There he always demonstrated a strength of character, admirable work ethic and intellectual acumen that clearly set him apart from his contemporaries,” Brody wrote. “However, most important to me, even back then, was how decent and kind he was towards other human beings. No matter how seemingly different, he always treated others with absolutely dignity and complete respect. While undoubtedly blessed with certain God given talents, I have never heard him speak ill of another person or even hint an air of superiority.”

Riddell “is still that good person today and continues to practice those same values that stood out to me all those years ago,” he added. “While I understand that he’s made some serious mistakes, I can tell he’s deeply remorseful and I have no doubt he will own up and move forward to lead an honorable and productive life.”

In an opinion piece for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, staff member Chris Anderson wrote, “Either Brody, whose term as mayor ended two days after the letter was dated, abused his office for personal reasons by vouching for an old tennis buddy in a federal court case. Or, eight government officials from the city of Sarasota endorsed the character of a man just sentenced to prison for his role in a very serious cheating and bribery scandal.”

While Brody wouldn’t comment by phone about the letter, he forwarded emails to Patch that he sent to and received from the Florida Commission on Ethics about the topic.

Any accusation that he abused his office by using the city’s official letterhead is an “irresponsible and slanderous assertion,” he told Patch by email.

In an April 15 email provided by Brody, Steven J. Zuilkowski, deputy executive director and general counsel for the FCE, responded to a phone call from the commissioner earlier that day about “whether the Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees prohibits a public officer, such as yourself, from writing letters of recommendation or character reference letters on the letterhead of your office.”

Zuilkowski told Brody that in the Commission on Ethics Opinion 99-8, the FCE “found that a public officer or employee does not misuse their position under Section 112.313(6), Florida Statutes (the misuse of public position prohibition), when they write a letter of recommendation on official letterhead, even when the letter is written for the benefit of ‘a person who has nothing to do with the business of’ their public office, so long as there is no quid pro quo for issuing the letter.”

He noted that “the public officer’s agency might have a stricter standard that could prohibit such conduct.”

In Sarasota, there is no formal rule or policy regarding commissioners’ use of city letterhead, Jan Thornburg, senior communications manager, told Patch by email.

“When an individual becomes an elected official, he/she does not give up his/her individual rights (such as providing a character reference,),” she wrote.

There is also no requirement that commissioners contact or consult the city attorney in these situations, Thornburg added. “In this situation, the city attorney was not consulted – and, to reiterate, there was no requirement for it.”

A Democrat, Brody has filed to run for the Sarasota County Commission’s District 2 seat in the 2022 election. If he wins the Democratic primary in August, he could face off against the Republican incumbent, Christian Ziegler, who was elected to the position in November 2018.

Brody has served on the Sarasota City Commission since elected in 2017.

Lynn Blais with the Florida Commission on Ethics confirmed to Patch that the emails provided by Brody are accurate.

Patch has reached out to Sarasota Mayor Erik Arroyo, Vice Mayor Kyle Battie, and commissioners Jen Ahearn-Koch and Liz Alpert for comment.