City Commissioner and former Mayor Scott Maddox, one of Tallahassee’s most prominent politicians, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he shook down city vendors for bribes, pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in exchange for official action.

Also charged in the 44-count, 66-page indictment was Downtown Improvement Authority Executive Director Paige Carter-Smith. The sealed indictment was handed down Tuesday, according to federal court records.

Federal court documents filed today unsealing the indictment says Maddox was arrested this morning by FBI agents and Carter-Smith was scheduled to surrender to the FBI this morning. Their first appearance before a judge is set for 3 p.m.

Neither Maddox nor his aide returned phone calls from the Democrat. Maddox appeared to delete his Facebook page over night. Carter-Smith also could not be reached for comment.

The latest:

It was unclear if the indictments represent the conclusion of the City Hall probe or the first volley of charges. In corruption cases like the one in Allentown, Pa., indictments trickled out over months and years.

Maddox, in a written statement he issued in February, denied the allegations and vowed to remain in office. Carter-Smith's lawyer has also said she will be cleared of any wrongdoing.

More:'To clear my name': Maddox paid $125K to lawyers from campaign account

TANGLED WEB: For complete coverage of the FBI investigation, click here.

The indictments were the first to arise out of the FBI’s investigation into alleged public corruption in Tallahassee, which began more than three years ago with the arrival of undercover agents posing as out-of-town developers and medical marijuana entrepreneurs.

Maddox’s indictment opens the door for Gov. Rick Scott to suspend him from office, which would create a vacancy on the five-person City Commission. If Maddox were suspended, commissioners would have 20 days to appoint someone to fill his seat. If they don’t, the governor gets to make the appointment.

Maddox in the middle:

The indictments did not come as a surprise. Maddox has been considered a person of interest since the early days of the FBI investigation, which became public in June 2017 with the arrival of federal subpoenas at City Hall.

On Sept. 6, 2017, the grand jury issued a subpoena at the city for communications between Maddox and his aides, including Carter-Smith. Two weeks later, the Tallahassee Democrat published a front-page photo of Maddox posing in a Las Vegas hotel room with local developer John "J.T." Burnette, three individuals he apparently didn’t realize were undercover FBI agents and a little person entertainer.

In February, the Democrat obtained federal court documents showing Maddox and Carter-Smith were central figures in its public corruption probe. A search warrant affidavit for Maddox’s personal emails and texts said the two engaged in a pay-to-play scheme involving their firm, Governance, Inc., and city vendors. The affidavit was sealed by a federal magistrate judge but later inadvertently posted on a federal court website.

The FBI alleged that Maddox sold Governance, a firm he started in 1999 when he was mayor, to Carter-Smith sometime between 2010 and 2012. But he continued to secretly control the company and profit from it, the documents said. Over a roughly five-year span, Governance made nearly $400,000 in payments to Maddox or Maddox and his wife and nearly $200,000 more to his family members.

The affidavit said Maddox took official actions to benefit a “ride share delivery service” that appeared to be Uber Technologies but was identified only as “Company One.” It also referred to a “waste services provider” that appeared to be Waste Pro USA but was identified only as “Company Three.”

Uber hired Carter-Smith in 2015 as part of its lobbying and consulting team around the same time the City Commission began revising its regulations on vehicles for hire. She never registered as a lobbyist for the firm, however. Maddox later voted in favor of an ordinance that included provisions favorable to Uber.

Waste Pro, a trash vendor for the city and county that has longtime ties to both Maddox and Carter-Smith, paid Governance more than $170,000 over a period of years, the court documents said. The company later acknowledged it was cooperating in the federal investigation. In July, one of the company’s top executives, Ralph Mills, was spotted going into the federal courthouse in Tallahassee while the grand jury was meeting.

Maddox, an attorney who earned bachelor’s and law degrees from Florida State University, served on the City Commission from 1993 to 2003, including a stint as mayor. After several bids for statewide office, he returned to the commission in 2012.

On the night he was re-elected in 2016, Maddox was surreptitiously recorded instructing one of the undercover agents to pay $20,000 a month to Governance. Maddox allegedly told the agent that Carter-Smith was “on board” with the scheme. The agents later sent four checks for $10,000 to Governance.

Burnette was later recorded telling an undercover agent that he should not stop paying Governance and threatened to pull out of a deal if the money stopped coming.

Anatomy of an FBI Fakeout:

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.