TAMPA - A male judge wearing his mistress' lingerie in his chambers, office break-ins, inappropriate kisses and illegal politicking.

The Hillsborough County Courthouse was rife with scandal from 1999 to 2002. The halls of justice resembled a fraternity house, and at times it seemed as if almost every big-name judge there was under scrutiny.

Gregory P. Holder played the role of the larger-than-life marshal in the white hat, riding bravely into lawless Dodge City. A truth-telling crusader unafraid to speak out about corruption, regardless of the consequences.

But even the good guys have bad days.

Holder's came near the end of 1997. He was changing judicial assignments and moving his office, his wife was ill, and he faced a looming deadline for a research paper that would help him win a promotion to colonel in the Air Force Reserve.

Although the paper was a simple assignment, the job of typing it would come to infuriate Holder's judicial assistant at the time, Lori Nasco.

For example, the disputed paper contains extensive grading notes in handwriting that Howe has authenticated as his own. The notes appear on pages alleged to have been plagiarized and on those that are not. In some cases, lines connect a note to a specific point in the text.

Ficarrotta quit amid allegations that he had an affair in his chambers with a bailiff (the bailiff said he liked to wear her underwear), and used his office to help raise campaign contributions for the sheriff.

Last, Navarro said, there's the matter of the alleged conspiracy that Holder and his attorneys offer up as an alternative explanation for the disputed paper. It's elaborate, and according to Holder and his attorneys, goes like this:

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