COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A powerful Ohio lobbyist who spent decades at the center of many of the state's significant policy battles was found dead in Florida as he faced charges in a sweeping federal bribery investigation, authorities said Tuesday.
Neil Clark, 67, was found dead Monday by a bicyclist in an isolated area of Collier County, Florida, where he had been living, authorities said.
The local sheriff's office provided a report describing the body being found, and the county medical examiner confirmed the body was Clark's. The cause of death wasn't determined, but a medical investigation and an autopsy were being performed.
Before becoming a lobbyist, Clark was an aide and finance director for the Ohio Senate Republicans, gaining inside experience in state budget-making with which he was able to help his many lobbying clients.
Clark parlayed his Senate work into an advertising and communications business and eventually a powerhouse bipartisan lobbying partnership with Paul Tipps, a former Ohio Democratic Party chairman who died in 2015.
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/neil-clark-lobbyist-named-60m-ohio-bribery-probe-76489314
