In what could seem like a hasty and behind-closed-doors decision, the Miami Lakes Council agreed to pay former Mayor Michael Pizzi — who was arrested in 2013 on federal bribery charges but acquitted a year later — for $1.7 million for the legal fees he incurred in his defense. Wasn’t this supposed to come back […]
In the first council meeting for a new council member, without any real public notice, the Miami Lakes Council narrowly voted Tuesday to offer former Mayor Michael Pizzi, who was arrested in 2013 on federal bribery charges in an FBI sting, a $1.7 million settlement for legal fees incurred during the criminal trial. Las malas […]
Miami City Commissioner Miguel Gabela wanted the city to stop payments to attorney Ben Kuehne in cases where he was representing former Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla in civil court. Kuehne is also Diaz de la Portilla’s attorney in his felony criminal case on money laundering, bribery and other public corruption charges. But before […]
The Florida Third District Court of Appeal said Wednesday that former Miami Lakes Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi could continue his lawsuit against the town for payment of his $3.25 million in legal fees from his 2013 public corruption trial. Pizzi had a dream team of attorneys to fight the federal bribery charges after an FBI […]
Political consultant and gypsy conartist Vanessa Brito is scheduled to appear in Miami-Dade Court Tuesday, but not on a campaign violation or the defemation charge against her. No, this time she is defending a petite theft charge that stems from a shoplifting incident at the Target store in Midtown. Stealing clothes instead of votes. It […]
Former Miami Lakes Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi is out of the limelight and out of politics, losing the mayoral election last November to Manny Cid. But he’s not out of the legal debt stemming from that elected office. Pizzi has been sued by Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, one of the lawfirms that represented him during […]
UPDATED: Talk about kicking a man when he’s down. First, former Miami Lakes Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi loses his re-election just a couple of weeks ago, getting an abysmal 23% against newly elected Mayor Manny Cid, who was a councilman. Then — boom! — a Miami-Dade court tells him Wednesday that the town is not on […]
He beat a bribery rap in federal court. Then he won several judicial rulings to get back into his elected office to finish out his term. He even beat a possible DUI investigation when he hit a tree on the side of a road and ran away from the accident on foot. It took voters […]
If you, like Ladra, love elections and like to follow campaigns like sports teams, then there is good news from Tuesday’s election results: Two exciting local runoffs. The mayoral seats in both Doral and Miami Lakes, where epic battles are being waged between colorful rivals, the excitement continues for a few more weeks while voters […]
As expected, Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi qualified at the last minute, just before noon Wednesday to run for re-election, making this race a heated four-man contest. Wait a minute, make that a three-way: Councilman Ceasar Mestre has withdrawn his candidacy. In a long Facebook post over the weekend, Mestre told his supporters that he […]