Corruption trial of suspended Miami-Dade commissioner stalls as court mulls judge’s actions

The long-anticipated public corruption trial of a decorated cop who parlayed 17 years of policing into decades of public service at the highest levels of Miami-Dade County government, was delayed at least a week as an appeals court mulls the interaction between the suspended commissioner and the judge overseeing the trial.

Late last week as state prosecutors and attorneys for Joe Martinez argued a motion, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Lody Jean halted the discussion and asked Martinez to take the stand. She spent most of the next minute warning Martinez to refrain from making gestures because it could harm his chances of acquittal with jurors.

Attorneys Ben Kuehne and Neil Taylor, concerned the judge showed a bias, asked Jean to recuse herself. Denied, the attorneys for Martinez filed a complaint asking the 3rd District Court of Appeal to weigh in. Early Wednesday afternoon, the judge halted jury selection after receiving word from the appeals court that a decision could come by the end of next week.

She told the potential jurors on Wednesday and Thursday morning — many of whom had already been questioned by the attorneys — that the trial had been halted and they would be updated by the end of next week.

“There’s a legal reason we have to stop these proceedings. I can’t continue to talk to you substantively,” Jean told jurors. “There’s a chance we may not need you.”

Outside the courtroom, Kuehne said the judge “appeared to create a legal bias” and that the interaction between judge Jean and Martinez “should not have happened.”

Re-starting the trial could be complicated by the re-scheduling of witness testimony and because lead state prosecutor Tim VanderGiesen has other trials scheduled for the end of the month and in May.

Martinez charged in alleged pay-to-play

Martinez, 66, is charged with single counts of unlawful compensation and conspiracy to commit unlawful compensation for allegedly collecting $15,000 from a shopkeeper in his West Kendall district, in exchange for sponsoring a law that would have benefited the owner of the shopping plaza. The charges could land Martinez in prison for as many as 20 years.

Still, the commissioner suspended from office by Gov. Ron DeSantis after his August 2022 arrest on felony charges, teased a possible run for Miami-Dade County sheriff in November should he be found not guilty. He refused to speak about his case or the public corruption charges he’s facing.

“Once this is over, I am definitely considering running,” Martinez said this week. “I think I’m highly qualified to be sheriff.”

Prosecutors at the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office say the county measure sponsored by Martinez that he is alleged to have been compensated for would have increased the number of cargo containers holding inventory at the strip mall. It was a major issue for the mall’s owner, who had been fined thousands of dollars by county code inspectors.

Though the bill didn’t pass and was never considered by the commission, that doesn’t matter under the law as long as intent can be proven. The crime was allegedly committed in 2016, just after Martinez was re-elected after spending the previous four years as a security consultant. Martinez called the charges “false” and said they were politically motivated.

Martinez was suspended from office during his fifth term. He won three consecutive four-year terms as a commissioner beginning in 2000. Out of office for four years beginning in 2012, he regained the commission seat in 2016 and won again in 2020.

A ‘fiscal emergency’ drove Martinez, state says

State prosecutors believe the alleged crimes were committed because Martinez and one of his employers outside of County Hall were financially strapped. And that, they contend, played a considerable part in the suspended commissioner’s decision to allegedly take part in pay-for-play with the owner of Extra Supermarket at 12890 SW Eighth St.

According to Martinez’s arrest warrant, investigators recovered an email written by Martinez to the owner of his employer, Centurion Security, in which the commissioner claimed to be dealing with a “financial emergency” and said it was time to collect outstanding debts. The company had been late in making payroll.

Martinez is alleged to have then contacted someone with ties to Ocean Bank and asked him to “put in a good word” to bank executives to help Centurion get a loan.

Three $5,000 payments to Martinez, state says

State prosecutors say Martinez received the first of three $5,000 payments from supermarket owner Jorge Negrin two weeks after Martinez’s Aug 30, 2016, election victory. The supermarket is in a plaza owned by a businessman named Sergio Delgado — the man Martinez allegedly asked to put in a good word at the bank.

According to Martinez’s arrest warrant, Delgado had been repeatedly fined by Miami-Dade code inspectors for having more than the permitted six cargo containers behind the stores. The warrant says Martinez received his second $5,000 check from Negrin in December 2016.

Two months later, investigators said they uncovered an email from Delgado to Martinez’s private email that said “I need help on this” and that he had already paid thousands of dollars in fines.

Martinez responded, the state alleges, by saying, “rest assured, we are working on it.” A month later on March 17, Martinez’s chief of staff initiated legislation sponsored by her boss that would have increased the number of containers permitted on certain properties.

Eight days later, according to the warrant, Martinez received the final $5,000 check from Negrin. After an angry email from Martinez to his staff, the item was placed on the county commission agenda on Aug. 23, 2017. Four days later, it was mysteriously shelved.

The county’s Office of Inspector General learned of the interactions and began to investigate. By October, Martinez agreed to speak with agents, according to his arrest warrant, but said he couldn’t recall why he got the checks and referred to them as loans. He also claimed he didn’t know Delgado or why the agenda item was pulled back.

Martinez laid low for two years, according to the warrant, then resurfaced and agreed to another interview in 2019. By then, he admitted to knowing Delgado. And, he said the payments were money owed to him by Negrin, after Martinez hooked him up with an investor — in 2013.

The Martinez investigation by the county’s inspector general also led to the arrest of another man who had no ties to Negrin or Delgado — but did have a connection with Martinez. Inspectors found that Hialeah businessman Mario Ferro used straw donors to illegally donate to Martinez’s 2016 campaign. In 2019, Ferro accepted a plea deal for two misdemeanors and probation and agreed to pay $10,000 to a charity.

The case was later sealed.