Harry Coe (February 13, 1933 – July 13, 2000) was a circuit judge and then State Attorney of Hillsborough County, Florida.
[2] He played minor league baseball in 1953 and from 1956 to 1958, going 26–3 with a 1.36 ERA in 264 innings for the Tampa Tarpons in 1957 and 18–12 with a 2.41 mark for the team in 1958.
He accumulated thousands of dollars in gambling debts and used re-election campaign funds, among money from other outside sources, to pay them off.
The media's involvement in his suicide was highly scrutinized, as some believed its "hound[ing]" of Coe about "allegations and innuendos" led him to kill himself.
Considerable flak was taken by WFLA-TV reporter Steve Andrews, who released a story on Coe prior to his death.