A grand jury indicted three people Wednesday in the investigation into whether Orlando-Orange County Expressway Authority officials violated Florida's open meeting laws.

Former Expressway Authority vice chairman Scott Batterson, former State Rep. and lobbyist Chris Dorworth and Florida Department of Transportation official Rebekah Hammond were indicted on misdemeanor charges of violating public meeting laws.

Hammond resigned after the indictment Wednesday.

The indictments stem from Ninth Circuit State Attorney Jeff Ashton's investigation into corruption at the agency.

Batterson, Dorworth and Hammond are all accused of meeting in secret to oust then-chairman Max Crumit and replace him with State Rep. Steve Precourt, with the aim of using the positions to give engineering contracts to companies in return for jobs for friends.

The charges stem from a meeting last year in which Batterson is accused of promising a manager for an engineering firm a contract. Batterson allegedly told the manager he controlled three of the five votes on the board. According to grand jury documents, Hammond, an FDOT government-affairs liaison, would pass on information between FDOT's secretary, the Expressway Authority and the engineering firm.

Batterson was already indicted by the grand jury for bribery.

A fourth member of the group under investigation pleaded guilty Wednesday to violating public meeting laws. Marco Peña, a former Expressway Authority member, entered the plea in return for information regarding the case.

And FDOT spokesperson released this statement Wednesday:

"The Florida Department of Transportation takes its responsibility to accountability, transparency and public service seriously.

"That's why the department fully cooperated with State Attorney Jeff Ashton throughout the investigation.

"We thank the State Attorney for his commitment to accountability and today, Rebekah Hammond resigned her position with the Florida Department of Transportation."