Stadium Naples: Tim Constantine completes work-release jail sentence

The 39-year-old former Collier County commissioner who had been sentenced to 364 days behind bars on racketeering and influence peddling in the Stadium Naples case in January, left jail on Saturday.

Just serving time allows some days to be shaved off an inmate's sentence and Constantine sliced his stay by two months, sheriff's officials say.

Constantine, the highest profile inmate in the jail when he was locked up at night and on weekends, was allowed to work at home during the day. He left the jail each day at 7 a.m. to work at home marketing golf products and returned each day at 6 p.m. He also spent weekends at the jail.

"They're calling him the model for work release," said his attorney, Nelson Faerber.

Earning about five days for every month served, the normal for all inmates, Constantine left the jail after serving 10 months instead of the 12 months he was sentenced to, said sheriff's spokeswoman Tina Osceola.

Faerber said he tells all of his clients who get the 364-day sentence to expect to be out in 10 months. Jail officials reported no problems with Constantine. He was never late returning to jail and caused no problems during his stay.

"He even accounted for traffic to make sure he was there on time," Faerber said. "He kept a low profile."

Constantine did use a 24-hour pass given to him by Senior Circuit Judge Steven Dakan for the birth of his son in September, Faerber said. He was also allowed to go to his wife's pre-natal visits while he was at home.

"He's really just eating up the fatherhood thing right now," Faerber said.

He said Constantine's business didn't suffer too much because of the jail time.

"He expects a successful year next year because now he can travel," Faerber said.

Constantine, who was accused of taking a $100,000 business loan from developers that he did not pay back and casting favorable votes on issues that benefited the developers' Stadium Naples project, is on both the prosecution and defense attorneys' witness lists. The chief prosecutor has said that he won't call him, but Faerber said he's not sure if any of the defense teams will.

Constantine, who once represented Golden Gate on the commission, was also accused of getting a $5,400 discount on his 1996 wedding reception at the Quail West Golf & Country Club from developer Bob Hardy. Constantine resigned from his commission seat in 2000 after his arrest.