Miami-Dade County Commissioner Joe Martinez will surrender to authorities this week facing allegations of financial crimes.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle announced on Twitter that Martinez will face "criminal charges." A news conference is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon with the state attorney and the Miami-Dade Office of Inspector General.
Martinez's attorney confirmed in a statement Monday that prosecutors directed Martinez to surrender this week.
The statement didn't outline the charges against Martinez but said they're "based on false allegations arising from his private practice work as a consultant when he was a private citizen and not an elected official."
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A source told NBC 6 the charges were financial in nature, and that he was possibly receiving payment off the books. The statement said Martinez has been under investigation for five years. Prosecutors confirmed to the Miami New Times in 2019 that the commissioner was involved in an active criminal investigation when they denied to release records.
"The investigation has been ongoing for five years, so the timing of the allegations that do not involve Commissioner Martinez’s time in public office raise questions of a political impact when he is considered the front runner for the newly created Sheriff of Miami-Dade County," the statement read in part. "For now, Commissioner Martinez makes clear that he is innocent of any wrongdoing and intends to aggressively work to clear his name."
Criminal defense attorney Richard Diaz is not involved in the case but says these types of crimes can be hard to prove to a jury.
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"We haven't seen a lot of convictions in Dade County of public officials," Diaz said. "Generally speaking, we are talking about white collar individuals who are educated. Unless you have a hand-to-hand interaction with some undercover recording, which sometimes happens, it's very, very difficult to put together a public corruption investigation."
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis could suspend Martinez and name a temporary replacement. The last time that happened was more than a decade ago under the Jeb Bush administration. Martinez is one of the leading conservative voices on the non-partisan county commission.
So far, DeSantis has not weighed in. Last week, he suspended four Broward County School Board members after a scathing grand jury report. The members were not charged with a crime; Martinez will.
The news hit county hall Monday and at an unrelated news conference. County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava told reporters she did not know much about the investigation.
"Public trust in government is essential to our democracy. Of course, we don't know anything more about the details right now. Once we know, we will be in a position to respond. Right now, we have nothing further to say," Levine Cava said.
“Normally there is a complaint or reason that an investigation begins, many times to the Inspector General of Miami -Dade, other times to the Miami-Dade Police Department. We will see this week according to reports,” said Mike Hernandez, political analyst for Telemundo 51.
The possibility of Martinez’s facing a charge was first reported Sunday on the Political Cortadito blog.
Martinez, 64, served as chairman of the commission twice before. He first held the District 11 seat in 2000 and opted not to run for reelection in 2012 before winning the post again in 2016.
According to the Miami Herald, Martinez’s preparations for a possible criminal charge caused a stir over the weekend as leaders and lobbyists in the county government prepare for a Florida governor to exercise his authority and suspend a county commissioner for the first time since 2002.
Even though Miami-Dade’s charter allows commissioners to appoint replacements for permanent vacancies, in Florida’s Constitution a governor is the one who selects a temporary commissioner to serve during a suspension.
