Fla. socialite at center of general's sex scandal

Jill Kelley leaves her home Tuesday, Nov 13, 2012 in Tampa, Fla. Kelley is identified as the woman who allegedly received harassing emails from Gen. David Petraeus' paramour, Paula Broadwell. She serves as an unpaid social liaison to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, where the military's Central Command and Special Operations Command are located. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

By MATT SEDENSKY

Associated Press / November 13, 2012

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‘‘My family is very patriotic; we came from Lebanon at a young age,’’ he said.

Kelley later married and moved to Florida with her husband, who works at a cancer clinic.

Jill and Scott Kelley have been involved in at least nine legal actions since arriving in Tampa, according to court records. Most involve real estate transactions, including one foreclosure and an $11,000 judgment against the couple in a Pennsylvania case.

In another twist in the scandal, court records indicate that Petraeus and Allen intervened two months ago in a messy custody dispute on behalf of Jill Kelley’s sister. Both four-star generals wrote letters supporting Natalie Khawam.

The judge in the case awarded Khawam’s ex-husband custody last year of their son. He also called Khawam dishonest and lacking in integrity.

Khawam is a lawyer who works on health care fraud and whistleblower cases, according to her LinkedIn profile, which has been removed from the professional networking site. The sisters also competed in a cook-off filmed for a Food Network show called ‘‘Food Fight’’ in 2003.

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Follow Tamara Lush on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tamaralush

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Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier and Pauline Jelinek in Washington, and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Fla., contributed to this report.