Make-A-Wish Foundation of Sarasota/Tampa Bay

DELORES CROOKS: The well-connected political campaign strategist ran the chapter from 1993 to 1999. She was fired for making personal use of a charity credit card and was sentenced to six months in jail after pleading no contest. She has met repeatedly with federal and state corruption investigators.

RANDY FELDMAN: The orthodontist and boxing promoter is the current president of the chapter.

ROBERT HERCE: The lawyer is a past president of the chapter. He hired Crooks to be the chapter's executive director and demanded that board members generate donations. The chapter grew substantially during his tenure. He refused to rein in an illegal fundraising arm in Sarasota, documents show.

BARBARA LANCER: The socialite ran the chapter's unregistered Sarasota auxiliary.

ROCKY RODRIGUEZ: The former high-profile commander with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office is a former vice president and president of the chapter. He retired from the sheriff's office in 2003 to avoid dismissal after running up thousands of dollars in charges for personal calls on his department-issued cell phone, most to a girlfriend who also was a Make-A-Wish board member.

The Prosecution

HARRY LEE COE III: The former Hillsborough County state attorney succumbed to pressure to assign a particular prosecutor to the Crooks case. He committed suicide in July 2000 after Gov. Jeb Bush ordered Coe, a chronic gambler, investigated for official misconduct.

STEVE HUNT: The lead investigator for the state attorney's office in the Crooks case quit midway through to take a job with the national Make-A- Wish Foundation.

PAUL D. JOHNSON: Despite his reluctance to do so, he was ordered late in the case to prosecute Crooks, allegedly at the request of others who wanted to see Crooks go to jail.

The Courthouse

F. DENNIS ALVAREZ: He was Hillsborough County's chief judge at the time of the Crooks case. A friend of Crooks since high school, he once employed her as his judicial assistant and had her manage his political campaigns.

HERBERT BAUMANN: The relative newcomer to the bench had no criminal experience but was moved by the chief judge to criminal court, where he inherited the Crooks case. He was transferred to civil court nine weeks after sentencing Crooks to jail, ending his criminal tenure after just five months.

The Defense

LYNN COLE: The former federal prosecutor was Crooks' first defense attorney. She spent months gathering evidence to prove Crooks' contention that hers wasn't the only wrongdoing at the local Make-A-Wish chapter.