The public corruption trial of former Homestead Mayor Steve Bateman is scheduled to begin Monday.
Bateman, 59, was arrested in August 2013 on charges that include two counts of unlawful compensation, unregistered lobbying, exploitation of his position and acquiring financial interests related to a secret consulting job with a Florida health clinic company, authorities said. Two of the charges are felonies and three misdemeanors
His attorney, Ben Kuehne, has claimed Bateman is innocent
According to the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, an investigation that began in February centered on Bateman's paid consultant job with Community Health of South Florida Inc.
Bateman was elected Homestead's mayor in 2009 and won re-election in 2011. He served as the city's vice mayor and councilman and was the chairman of the city's planning and zoning board.
Bateman lost the mayoral primary in October, finishing in third.
"We're in a position to vigorously fight this case," Kuehne said last year. "Mayor Bateman has said he's not guilty, he's said it legally, he's said it publicly, he's done nothing wrong."
