Opa-Locka Mayor's Family Members Arrested for Campaign Violations

Three family members of Opa-Locka Mayor Myra Taylor have been arrested after more than $6,000 in illegal campaign contributions were funneled through two companies owned or run by them, authorities announced Thursday.

John Taylor Jr., Demetrius Taylor and Elvira Smith were arrested for campaign violations connected to Myra Taylor’s 2010 election as the city’s mayor, the Miami-Dade Police Department’s Public Corruption Investigations Bureau, the Commission on Ethics and Public Trust, and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said.

They said their investigation revealed that the illegal contributions were funneled through Vankara: A Learning Exchange Inc. and New Beginnings of South Florida Inc., businesses which are owned and/or operated by Taylor’s family.

Her husband John, her son Demetrius and her sister Elvira Smith “conspired to fabricate invoices in an effort to cover up the true source of the campaign contributions,” officials said.

They said a search warrant was executed Wednesday at the New Beginnings Enrichment Center, at 2398 NW 119th St. in Miami, and that computers, documents and records tied to Myra Taylor’s mayoral campaign were used and/or stored there.

The three family members were arrested, taken to the Miami-Dade County Jail, and charged with campaign violations that include making campaign contributions in excess of $500, accepting campaign contributions in excess of $500, evidence tampering, conspiring to violate the elections code, and conspiracy to tamper with evidence, authorities said. The first four charges are felonies and the last one is a misdemeanor.

Court information on their legal proceedings was not immediately available.

Mayor Taylor could not be reached for comment late Thursday afternoon at the city’s offices, which were already closed.

The mayor and her husband founded the Vankara Educational Center in 1978, and in 2009 the City Commission renamed the street it sits on Vankara Drive.

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