Trial is set to begin for the suspended mayor of North Miami on charges of participating in an $11 million mortgage fraud scheme.
Jury selection was scheduled to start Monday for Lucie Tondreau, who faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud. She has pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors say Tondreau and others conspired before she became mayor to defraud lenders using straw buyers, who obtained inflated loans for 20 properties. The scheme allegedly involved recruiting buyers through a radio program catering to Haitian-American listeners.
Tondreau's business partner, Karl Oreste, previously pleaded guilty in the case.
A native of Haiti, Tondreau in June 2013 became North Miami's first female Haitian-American mayor, beating out former mayor Kevin Burns in a runoff. Burns later filed a lawsuit, accusing Tondreau of not having lived in the city for at least a year before the election. It was later dismissed.
She was suspended from office by Gov. Rick Scott in May. A new mayor, Smith Joseph, has since been elected.
