Cindi Hutchinson, Former Fort Lauderdale Vice Mayor, Pleads Guilty in Corruption Case

Former commission sentenced to four months in jail, five years probation

A former Fort Lauderdale vice mayor will be spending four months behind bars on corruption charges as part of a plea deal worked out with prosecutors Monday.

Cindi Hutchinson will also spend five years on probation and will have to pay fines as part of the deal announced during a hearing Monday in a Broward County courtroom.

Hutchinson had been charged with three counts of unlawful compensation, four counts of official misconduct, one count of grand theft, one count of petit theft, one count of conspiracy to commit unlawful compensation, and one count of perjury following her arrest in January 2011.

Hutchinson had earlier pleaded not guilty. On Monday, she pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful compensation and two counts of official misconduct.

She will have to report to jail on April 15 to begin her sentence.

The State Attorney's Office says Hutchinson accepted fences, pavers, fence repair, air conditioning repairs and other work from subcontractors from the La Preserve and Georgian Oaks development projects after she voted on rezoning approval for the development projects.

The gifts were worth about $14,000, which Hutchinson allegedly failed to disclose. Hutchinson served three terms on the city commission beginning in 2000.

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