Trinidadian born Florida Lieutenant Governor quits amid Internet gambling scam

Florida Lieutenant Governor Jennifer Carroll

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Trinidadian-born American politician Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll has resigned amid fallout from an investigation into internet cafes that are fronts for gambling.

Carroll who is the 18th and current Lieutenant Governor of the U.S. state of Florida. The first African American and the first woman elected to the position, she assumed the office on January 4, 2011

Carroll was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. She moved to the United States at the age of eight, and graduated from Uniondale High School inUniondale, New York in 1977. Carroll enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1979. After serving as an Aviation Machinist Mate (Jet Mechanic), she was selected for the Enlisted Commissioning Program, becoming an Aviation Maintenance Officer in 1985. She retired from the Navy in 1999 as a Lieutenant Commander. In 1981, she received an Associate of Arts degree from Leeward Community College. She followed this in 1985 with a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of New Mexico. She moved to Florida in 1986. She received a Master of Business Administration degree from unaccredited and now defunct Kensington University in 1995. Carroll resigned her position on the National Commission of Presidential Scholars after a CBS investigation raised questions about her degree. She then returned to school to earn an accredited Master of Business Administration degree online from St. Leo University in 2008.

Carroll's resignation was announced Wednesday, one day after she gave her resignation letter to Gov. Rick Scott. His chief of staff, Adam Hollingsworth, said her resignation was spurred by an investigation into the Allied Veterans of the World.

Officials from that non-profit internet cafe company were recently arrested on racketeering charges. The owner was arrested Tuesday in connection to allegations that he made $290 million after supplying illegal gambling software in Florida and claiming the games' proceeds would benefit a veterans group. Authorities also interviewed Carroll.

Carroll's ties to the company were questioned when she was in the Legislature when she proposed a bill that would benefit Internet cafes.

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