And they said, 'you know, we've got investigations going on (for) over a year,' " Buchanan said. "And it wasn't just me. "They (state and federal agents) met with me. They needed an insider who could document and testify to any efforts at corruption, he said.
His job, overseeing building permits, annexation, zoning, impact fees, code compliance, and federal and state grant programs for housing and neighborhood development, gave a him a perfect vantage point that the feds and state agents were looking for, he said.īuchanan says law enforcement approached him his first week on the job about an ongoing investigation. Posing as a representative of investors interested in buying a condo complex, but actually working with law enforcement, Buchanan slipped several thousand dollars of cash from law enforcement to the South Daytona mayor and to a special magistrate in exchange for drastically lowering city code-enforcement liens on a condo complex, from $241,000 to $12,500, according to court records.īuchanan says he was asked by law enforcement to play a similar role in Brevard after he was hired by Palm Bay in June 2015 to be the city's growth and management director. Throughout the arresting affidavits for Isnardi, husband of Brevard County Commission Chairwoman Kristine Isnardi, and Aguiar are references to a confidential source. Buchanan says he is that source.
Now, a few months after two high-profile arrests in Palm Bay, Buchanan has stepped forward as federal and state law enforcement's "inside man" - a key confidential informant who helped gather evidence and build cases against former Deputy City Manager Dave Isnardi and local business owner and one-time City Council candidate, Jose Aguiar.īoth Isnardi and Aguiar maintain their innocence on racketeering and other allegations that they conspired to unduly influence City Hall. The two men are free on bond awaiting trial.īuchanan's story provides the first inside look at a whirlwind undercover drama that, according to investigators, involved secret talk of bribes, blackmail, prostitutes, a bag of cash and pain pills. The investigation into alleged fraud and corruption in the county's most populous municipality is still open, law enforcement officials say. PALM BAY - Pressured to resign under a fog of suspicion, blamed for things gone wrong with state and federal housing grants, and accused of being the subject of a criminal investigation, Stuart Buchanan, Palm Bay's former growth and development director, was cast as the first villain of south Brevard's long-brewing political scandal.