U.S. Marshals began the process Friday to seize the assets of Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo to enforce the more than $63 million court judgment against him from last year.
A representative of the U.S. Marshals was seen posting multiple notices on the front of Carollo's home Friday, including a "Notice of U.S. Marshal Levy."
The notices included a judge's final order as well as other court documents related to the judgment against Carollo. The documents also announced the marshal’s intent to confiscate Carollo's personal belongings.
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The expectation is that authorities will eventually go inside the home to take possession of those items and then they would be auctioned off to help pay that $63 million judgment against Carollo.
"This is where I live, and I'm being held in limbo like nobody else is," Carollo told reporters Friday. "Where am I gonna go?"
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An attorney who represents Carollo arrived at the home and said he's trying to appeal, claiming the house is the marital property of Carollo and his wife.
"This is marital property and it's not appropriate for Marjory and Joe to have any of their property touched," Marc Sarnoff said. "He's got a constitutional right to have this house homesteaded, and that is not subject to a creditor's ability to take."
"I have been an honest public servant, I've been living off of what I make doing everything that I can to give my residents the best, that's why I kept getting elected and re-elected," Carollo said.
In a writ of execution filed last month, the United States District Court ordered the marshal of the Southern District of Florida to seize Carollo's cash, goods and land.
Carollo was found liable in June in a federal civil lawsuit brought by two businessmen who accused him of trying to destroy their businesses as political retaliation.
The jury found Carollo violated the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights and awarded them more than $63 million.
Bill Fuller, the owner of the Ball and Chain restaurant and club in Little Havana, and fellow businessman Martin Pinilla claimed Carollo weaponized the city’s police and code enforcement departments to shut down several of their businesses in Little Havana because they supported his political opponent.
"Although Carollo continues to resist the consequences of his misconduct, they should serve as a clear reminder to other public officials that their political authority is derived from the public trust and is not a tool to advance their corrupt personal ambitions," an attorney for the businessmen said in a statement Friday.
In November, a federal court ordered the city of Miami to garnish the commissioner's wages.
Carollo has vowed to fight the asset seizure.
"If blood is what they want from me, I will gladly give them both my arms so they can choose the one they prefer and draw my blood," Carollo said in a statement in Spanish last month. "But if you prefer to put me in front of a firing squad, let me know which wall in Miami you want to execute it on."
