Yes, she was finally arrested. But Daisy Cabrera, the Hialeah boletera caught red-handed and arrested more than a week later, only after she was found to have committed forgery, allegedly, is out of jail already sleeping in her comfy bed thanks to someone who paid the $700 on her $7,000 bail for her.
Cabrera is pretty poor. Everyone who knows her knows that. Now, maybe a family member stepped up, but Ladra is still curious as to who put up the security deposit and who is paying her Coral Gables attorney, Eric Castillo, who I am quite certain does not come cheap. Not with his spiffy suits.
Nobody else has been charged, that I can see, even though I was told that there were two warrants, not one. Maybe it’s for Matilde Martinez, the woman driving Cabrera from ALF to ALF as she stole the votes from incapacitated seniors.
I am glad that Miami-Dade State Attorney Kathy Fernandez-Rundle decided to recuse herself from the case because of possible ties to someone, she said, referring to Al Lorenzo who works in both her campaign and the one for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, who has been tied to Cabrera through the unholy alliance he made with the Hialeah hoodlums who use her for their campaigns. Word is, and apparently the people talking to Ladra are talking to other members of the media, more people will fall and be arrested. Some say it could be the politicos themselves.
But why did Fernandez-Rundle take so long? And, now that we now there may have been a conflict of interest because of Lorenzo, wouldn’t that conflict of interest have existed last year when Cabrera was taking people to the JFK Library in diapers — some of who didn’t even know their own names? Hmmm. Could that be why nothing happened? Could it be that our state attorney ignored repeated complaints about absentee ballot fraud because she had a conflict of interest?
I’m glad that this is getting some attention now and one of the things Fernandez-Rundle said in front of the TV cameras after the arrest — but before she asked Gov. Rick Scott to appoint a special prosecutor — sort of hinted that she’s know about it, too. “This has been going on far too long already,” she said.
Really? Really? You don’t say. And guess what? It’s rampant. You know who you need to talk to… pardon me, whoever the special prosecutor is needs to talk to. Emelina Llanes was video taped last year doing the same thing, collecting ballots. Nothing happened. There is evidence against a podiatrist named Victor Verjano, too.
How far does this probe go? And when will we learn? After the election in 11 days?
If I were the Mayor Golden Boy, I would demand that they open those ballots and talk to the voters and subpoena records and get to the bottom of this to clear my name. Instead, he tells me, through his gritted teeth, that he “didn’t ask for this. I asked for their support.” Instead, he asks for meaningless affidavits from his campaign workers that say they didn’t hire Daisy Cabrera. Everybody realizes that those are not worth the paper they were printed on.
Like I said, someone else hired her or paid her or fed her — as Rafael Perez, a former state rep candidate now running for committeeman, and State Rep. Eddy Gonzalez say she works for food. Gonzalez, who Ladra heard has been in to talk to the SAO but who still has not returned my calls — told Ladra when he was still talking that he paid her with with a holiday turkey once — have said.
I really don’t think Gimenez knew his campaign was providing food in exchange for absentee ballots — and I don’t know who now is providing legal services. But someone knew. Why isn’t Gimenez screaming that at the top of his lungs on every TV station that he can? Who is that someone who knew?
After several critics of Hialeah Mayor Carlos “Castro” Hernandez were barred from the big announcement at La Carreta — with one of those red-carpet photo backdrops and everything — of the evil endorsement, members of the Gimenez campaign apologized and said they had lost control of the event.
“Our campaign has always operated in a transparent and inclusive fashion as our track record demonstrates. Unfortunately, on Friday, we lost control of our event and this resulted in members of the media, friends and supporters not being granted access,” wrote campaign manager Jesse Manzano, the Monday after, in a statement released to the media.
But, apparently, they’ve lost control of the campaign in Hialeah — the office, the operations, and the support, as people turn on him faster than he can count backwards to 49 percent.
At a meeting on Tuesday night at the home of Luly Cremates — who helped run the phone bank for former Mayor Raul Martinez in his failed bid to return — ten people met to discuss how they were going to support Miami-Dade Commission Chairman Joe Martinez, who also paid a visit (more on that later).
Everybody is pretty certain that the mayor will still win the runoff — but his numbers have dropped already. Maybe a little, but some, and these things take time to sink in. I believe they will drop a few more now after everybody learns that the state attorney stepped aside. What’s going to happen after the next shoe drops?
If I were him, I’d be screaming at the top of my lungs to clear my name.