Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez spent five hours in jail Tuesday after he was charged with unlawful compensation for having sponsored legislation to change county code restrictions in exchange for $15,000.
Legislation is going cheap these days!
Martinez told reporters as he left that he could not talk about the arrest yet, but would speak — presumably to clear his name — when he could.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle laid out the whole quid-pro-quo deal in a 30-minute press conference Tuesday afternoon (longer with Spanish) while Martinez hit a couple of snags posting his bond, which was, funny enough, $15,000.
He told reporters as he left the Turner Guilford Knight corrections facility that he was not free to speak but would say something as soon as he could. On Monday, his attorney sent out a statement saying that he was innocent and that the charges were politically motivated to hurt his chances in the 2024 Miami-Dade Sheriff’s race.
According to the investigation and the documentation provided by the SAO:
After he was elected in August of 2016, Martinez got his first $5,000 check, days before he was sworn in that November, from Jorge Negrin, the owner of Xtra Supermarket on Southwest 8th Street. Negrin and the owner of the shopping center, Sergio Delgado, were getting hit with code violations for having five storage containers on the property where none was allowed. They had accrued $25,000 in fines but needed the containers for storage. They wanted Martinez to do something to help them. He got another $5,000 check in early December and a third one in March 2017.
That’s when his office started working on legislation that would relax the restrictions and allow containers on the property. It’s also about the time that Martinez strong-armed Delgado into helping him get a bank loan for his employer, Centurion Security. His payroll checks were bouncing.
From March to August 2017 the container legislation progressed. There were meetings with Martinez’ then chief of staff Ana Bustamante — who is related to his campaign consultant, Anthony Bustamante — and the legal department.
Read related: Sources: Joe Martinez will turn himself in on Tuesday after 5-year investigation
“Martinez was directly involved in developing the container legislation,” Fernandez Rundle said. “Martinez solicited information from Delgado.”
Emails and text messages show that Martinez was very involved and “led Delgado to believe that new container legislation was forthcoming, and relieve his fees,” Fernandez Rundle said.
The legislation was eventually put on a commission agenda for Sept. 7, 2017. Then, on Sept. 23 — same day that Martinez has a telephone conversation with Delgado — the commissioner put a hold on the legislation.
Does that have anything to do with the fact that Delgado couldn’t help him get a loan for Centurion?
Only eight weeks later, when an investigator for the Office of Inspector General asked him about Delgado, he said he didn’t know who that was. Then he said the money was a loan. Then he said it was a gift. Then he said it was partial payment for consulting work he did in 2015.
“By the way, neither the ‘loan’ nor the ‘gift’ was claimed on his financial disclosure nor was it on his income tax return,” Fernandez Rundle said.
“In our community, we believe our elected officials are placed in positions of authority to better the lives of the individuals who live here and the community at large,” Fernandez Rundle said at the press conference.
Is she really talking about Miami-Dade?
“In its simplest form, this case involves a public official using his office for a personal benefit,” she said.
Martinez was charged with unlawful compensation, a second degree felony, and conspiracy to commit unlawful compensation, which is a third degree felony. The second charge likely stems from bank loan thing.
Florida law doesn’t require the elected official to actually produce any results for the bribe or unlawful compensation. The fact is he tried or even just let them think that he could and that he tried. That’s enough.
Read related: Joe Martinez claims public corruption charge is really a political hatchet job
Inspector General Felix Jimenez said the investigation, which was started with an anonymous tip, took five years because they wanted to have a solid case. They had to review hundreds if not thousands of financial records and take numerous witness statements, Jimenez said, adding that the COVID shutdown in 2020 also slowed things down.
“The wheels of justice turn slowly but they grind exceedingly fine,” he said at the press conference. “There is never a good time to charge an elected official.
“These actions corrupt the system and erode our trust in government,” Jimenez said. “The OIG is committed to investigating these crimes at all levels of government.”
Said Fernandez Rundle: “The prospect of a public official soliciting funds to benefit himself or his business associate is both illegal and is offensive.”
And, again, one has to wonder if she’s a shut-in.
“There are a lot of good hard working people in government who respect and honor the public’s trust,” Fernandez Rundle said. “But those government officials who use their positions and staff for private purposes always undermine the confidence of voters and taxpayers.”
She’s asked the community to be her eyes and ears and report such breaches of public trust to a public corruption hotline at 305-547-3300. Ladra already put it on her speed dial.
“I’ve said many times that we hold public officials to a high standard and none of us will tolerate these kinds of activities and actions in our county.”
Good to hear. So shall we expect another press conference on Miami Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla soon?
Arrest Warrant Affidavit for Miami-Dade Commissioner Jose “Joe” Martinez by Political Cortadito on Scribd
State attorney: Joe Martinez broke our trust for $15,000, help with bank loan added by Ladra on
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