FBI appoints new chief for division

The 22-year veteran will oversee 150 agents in 18 counties.

By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 6, 2002

TAMPA -- A new boss is coming to run the area's FBI office.

FBI Director Robert Mueller has appointed James F. Jarboe special agent in charge of the Tampa Division. Jarboe, 53, is expected to fill the job in April or May.

He replaces Robert Chiaradio, who left in December after nine months in the top job. Mueller tapped Chiaradio to become one of his four executive assistants, positions created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks to help the FBI with counterterrorism.

Jarboe is a 22-year FBI veteran "with a widely recognized record of investigative accomplishments," according to an FBI news release. He will oversee about 150 agents spread over his 18-county jurisdiction, which reaches from Orlando to Naples and includes Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

Jarboe could not be reached for comment Tuesday. According to the FBI and news reports, he was born in Evansville, Ind., and graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Evansville in 1970. He entered the U.S. Navy and served as a flight officer in an attack squadron aboard the aircraft carrier USS Constellation, achieving the rank of lieutenant.

After leaving the Navy, Jarboe obtained a second bachelor's degree as an accounting major and later received his certificate as a certified public accountant. In 1980, he joined the FBI, working violent crime and white-collar crime in the St. Louis and Los Angeles offices.

In 1988, he moved to Washington, D.C., as a supervisor and helped coordinate background investigations and security checks for White House employees and presidential appointments. Two years later, he moved to Memphis, Tenn., where he worked as a field supervisor, overseeing the drug, civil rights and violent crime programs.

In 1998, he became the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's Salt Lake City office. Two years ago, the bureau promoted him to section chief of a counterterrorism division at FBI headquarters in Washington.

Jarboe is married and has a son.

-- Contact Graham Brink at (813) 226-3365 or brink@sptimes.com.

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