'Zero In'

Robert O'Neill, the top federal prosecutor on the Gulf Coast, faces a budget puzzle tricky enough to make the brainiest math wonk cry.

The dilemma: O'Neill's office, the Middle District of Florida, has the second-largest population out of 94 federal districts in the country, but it's the 16th largest in personnel. “We are not New York City,” O'Neill says. “We are not Chicago or L.A. I get that, obviously, and I'm not saying tomorrow we need to be the second-largest office, but it would be nice to get a little more resources.”

O'Neill's Tampa-based district stretches south to Fort Myers-Naples and north and east to Orlando and Jacksonville. That's why he says the personnel discrepancy can be a daily hurdle. For example, O'Neill could only assign one federal agent to a widespread mortgage fraud case in Sarasota that ultimately covered more than $200 million in fraudulent loans and close to 20 defendants.