The FBI has begun investigating a web of political and personal connections that have already resulted in state indictments of former House Speaker Ray Sansom and two associates.

The specter of a federal grand jury complicates and intensifies matters for Sansom, Okaloosa County developer Jay Odom and the former president of Northwest Florida State College, Bob Richburg.

The men face felony charges over allegedly securing $6 million in taxpayer money for a college building that Odom may have planned to use for his corporate jet business.

An FBI agent recently started collecting information in the case and other issues, though the scope and interest is unknown.

Odom has given about $1 million in donations to Florida Republicans — including about $122,000 to Sansom and a political committee he controlled — and has made his aircraft available to politicians. The FBI often gets investigative help from the IRS.

(To read more about the investigation into the Republican Leadership, click here.)