Former State Rep. Mitch Needelman Arrested

The former clerk of courts in Brevard County, Mitch Needelman, has been charged withbribery and bid tampering, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Thursday.

Needelman, a former state representative, allegedly made a secret deal with Michigan-based company BlueWare to have thecompany complete a massive document-scanning project in exchange for donations to his campaign for re-election, which he lost last year.

Needelmanis a Republican and former Florida Marine Patrol officer. He was elected to the Florida House in 2000 and served until he was term-limited in 2008. He was then elected as the Brevard County clerk in 2011.

He was also charged withofficial misconduct based on allegations that he told workers to use private email accounts to circumvent public records laws, according to the FDLE press release.

Needelman's former business partner and lobbyist,William Matthew Dupree, was also charged.An arrest warrant has also been issued for BlueWare CEO Rose Harr, who is accused of bid tampering and bribery charges.

"The investigation shows Needelman, Dupree and Harr swindled Brevard County taxpayers out of millions of dollars," Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey said in a statement. "Although not the final chapter, today's arrests should present a degree of satisfaction to Brevard County taxpayers."