51-year-old Clarence Polite was first through the door Wednesday morning for the promise of free stimulus money. Polite was wanted on violation of probation charges. The Bay County resident was one of 39 people arrested in Wednesday's warrant sting.

Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen says, "Bad guys should worry about what's going on in law enforcement. They shouldn't be able to walk around and not worry about being arrested."

It's called "Operation Bailout," adopted by Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen after he saw a cable news channel story about a similar sting operation out of south Florida.

Authorities created a phony agency called "Northwest Florida Stimulus Coalition Bailout," complete with a bogus web site. They compiled a list of people in Bay, Gulf and Jackson counties with outstanding warrants over the last six months.

Those people received a letter saying they'd been selected to receive $653 in free undeclared stimulus money. They just needed to call and confirm their appointment. The operation set-up in the old Bay County Supervisor of Elections' office Wednesday.

Sheriff McKeithen says, "Here, we were able to control every single thing that happened, from the number of people we let in the door to the number of officers involved."

Authorities were positioned outside the building to track down anybody who tried to flee. They would arrest the suspect in what appeared to be a routine traffic stop. Additionally, they staged fake construction workers outside to mask any noise coming from inside the building.

29-year-old Tasha Harrison, of Jackson County, was wanted on aggravated battery charges. Authorities say she walked in with a gram of cocaine.

The signs out front even attracted "walk-ins." Johnnie Casey drove to the facility without a license. He was arrested hours after his release from prison in Taylor County.

Sheriff McKeithen says, "A lot of them are not rocket scientists, anyway. So, money is one of the roots of all evil."

While some said they knew it was too good to be true, it didn't stop them from showing up and walking out in cuffs.