Miami-Dade commissioner accused of public corruption to face jury week after Thanksgiving
Joe Martinez, a long-time Miami-Dade County commissioner who was considering a run for sheriff before his suspension from office last year on public corruption charges, will stand trial the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
The date was agreed on during a brief status hearing Thursday before Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Lody Jean.
Martinez, his attorney Ben Kuehne and prosecuting Assistant State Attorney Tim VanderGiesen attended the hearing on Zoom. Martinez briefly showed his face before turning off the video, then listened to the remainder of the hearing.
Martinez, who spent 17 years as a Miami-Dade police officer before winning the first of his five commission races in 2000, is accused of accepting $15,000 from a shopkeeper in exchange for sponsoring a law that would have benefited the owner of a shopping plaza and a tenant in his West Miami-Dade district.
The legislation never passed and was never considered by commissioners. Florida’s unlawful compensation law, however, says prosecutors don’t need to show that the public official’s “exercise of influence” for illegal pay was actually “accomplished,” only that it was attempted.
Martinez, 65, was charged with unlawful compensation and conspiracy to commit unlawful compensation.
After his August, 2022 arrest, Martinez called the allegations “false,” said they arose when he was out of office between 2012 and 2016 and while he worked as a consultant. He also called the case “politically motivated.” Martinez, a Republican whose term would have ended in 2024, was suspended by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sept. 20. The governor appointed attorney Roberto Gonzalez to replace him.
Prosecutors contend that two weeks after winning his 2016 election, Martinez was paid $5,000 by the owner of a Southwest Eighth Street supermarket that had been repeatedly fined by code enforcement for using six cargo containers to store inventory. That’s more containers than county code permits.
The state says Martinez received another check for the same amount the next month. It also contends that when the owner of the supermarket emailed Martinez to complain about the fines, Martinez texted him back, saying “rest assured we are working on it.”
The following March, an aide for Martinez initiated legislation that would have increased the number of cargo containers permitted on specific properties. Eight days later, prosecutors say, Martinez received yet another check for $5,000 from the same shopkeeper.
VanderGiesen told Judge Jean he expects the trial to last two to three weeks.
