Miami-Dade employee gets 30 months for $13K in bribes

Miami-Dade employee gets 30 months for $13K in bribes

In yet another sign that the federal authorities ought to be looking into all the shenanigans down here, a former Miami-Dade Public Works employee was sentenced Friday to 30 months after he accepted more than $13,000 in bribes — which included an oven and a fridge — from a county contractor in 2011 and 2012. […]

Michael Pizzi thinks he is still mayor, throws town party

Michael Pizzi thinks he is still mayor, throws town party

Former Miami Lakes Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi — who was suspended in August after he was arrested on federal bribery and extortion charges — seems to think he’s still the town’s fearless leader. He’s been sending emails to his virtual constituents for months — one this week included a link to a fairly positive Miami […]

Justice? Punks get the book thrown, VIPs get the other cheek

Justice? Punks get the book thrown, VIPs get the other cheek

Ladra wants to be happy about it. Believe me. But it seems like the scales of justice are a little off, here. The U.S. Attorney’s office announced today that a former Miami-Dade Public Works employee had pleaded guilty to a charge of bribery after an FBI investigation found that he was taking $13,000 in kickbacks — […]

Holiday hellos from busted Homestead, Miami Lakes mayors

Holiday hellos from busted Homestead, Miami Lakes mayors

Both former Mayors Steve “Shhhhh” Bateman of Homestead and Michael “Muscles” Pizzi of Miami Lakes — who were arrested in August on separate public corruption charges — sent holiday greetings via email to their friends and supporters. Pizzi, who has used Gmail to communicate with his peeps before, sent his note Dec. 31, and it […]

Steve Bateman’s headache grows with 7 new charges

Steve Bateman’s headache grows with 7 new charges

Former Homestead Mayor Steve Bateman might have thought the worst was over, but today he faces additional charges of public corruption for misuse of campaign funds. In August, Bateman was arrested on charges of unlawful compensation for using his position as mayor to secure a secret lobbying gig he never disclosed. Then he is suspended […]

Public corruption in Miami-Dade: Is something in the water?

Public corruption in Miami-Dade: Is something in the water?

The political bomb that exploded in Doral last week has had its aftershocks. Already, there is an investigation into the campaign office rental of Mayor Luigi Boria and another inquiry on his links with a friend and property owner who bought the property from Boria’s children with money the mayor may have lent him and […]

New claims about Michael Pizzi is tip of federal iceberg

New claims about Michael Pizzi is tip of federal iceberg

Thank God for the feds coming to the rescue. I’ll call them the cavalry. The scandalous claims that came out Sunday about former Miami Lakes Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi wanting three years ago to plant cocaine on former Councilman Richard Pulido or take him out more permanently — as in hire someone to whack him […]

Manny Maroño plea deal may mean handing over bigger fish

Manny Maroño plea deal may mean handing over bigger fish

Former Sweetwater Mayor Manny “Maraña” Maroño was facing federal extortion conspiracy charges for his role in a bogus grant application scheme in which authorities say he intended to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from the U.S. government in exchange for thousands of dollars in kickbacks. But Friday, Maroño — once on a rumored shortlist […]

Sasha Tirador comingles campaigns on Hialeah mailer

Sasha Tirador comingles campaigns on Hialeah mailer

Is she at it again? Absentee Ballot Queen Sasha Tirador is under investigation for co-mingling campaign funds from her judicial and municipal campaigns last year (more on that later). But that doesn’t stop her from flirting with the same kind of disaster for the upcoming Hialeah elections. Tirador doesn’t only represent Mayor Carlos “Castro” Hernandez […]

Joe Carollo goes off the reservation, naming names in Doral

Joe Carollo goes off the reservation, naming names in Doral

Doral City Manager Joe Carollo might want to get a bodyguard or some protective custody from the FBI, maybe. That’s because he went on a verbal rampage Tuesday night and threw everybody under the bus in an effort to defend himself against allegations of acting unprofessionally with a business associate and friend of Mayor Luigi […]