A county commissioner Miami-Dadewho has been considering running for bailiff, surrendered to authorities Tuesday on corruption charges after receiving a $15,000 bribe from a supermarket owner to change a law that limited the number of food stores that business could hold.
Joe Martinez, who has served on the County Commission for two terms since 2000, is charged with “unlawful offsetting” and “conspiracy to commit unlawful offsetting,” according to the arrest warrant. Both are third-degree felonies punishable by up to five years in prison each. To this must be added another accusation, by the Treasury, because he did not include those funds in his tax return.
Martinez, 64, turned himself in at a county jail Tuesday morning and said he will fight the charges. Once the state’s attorney for southern FloridaIf Catherine Fernández-Rundle deposits the accusation in court on Tuesday afternoon, it is most likely that the governor of the state, Ron DeSantis, will suspend Martínez from his post.
The still commissioner was taken before a judge, who also imposed a bail of 15,000 dollars. In Florida, inmates barely pay 10% of bail, so in this case Martinez returned home after paying 1,500.
Martinez is a former police lieutenant, viewed by many as a “troublemaker” on both the Miami-Dade County police force and commission, who has been considering running for Miami-Dade’s new sheriff’s job in 2024. That position will be created through a county referendum. Miami-Dade is currently the only county in Florida without an elected sheriff.
Former police lieutenant Joe Martínez collaborated with a security company five years ago when he was not yet in public office. #Florida #Miami https://t.co/MCKxVrUZt8
— OnCuba (@OnCuba) August 30, 2022
Investigators say Martinez accepted the $15,000 from a supermarket owner who faced repeated fines for having too many storage units on the property. In exchange for the money, authorities say he pushed through legislation that would allow the supermarket and its landlord to legally own multiple storage containers.
Although that legislation ultimately did not pass, officials argue that the charges are still legal. Martinez’s attorney, Ben Kuehne, said in a statement that the charges may be politically motivated aimed at derailing his possible 2024 sheriff’s run.
“For now, Commissioner Martinez is making it clear that he is innocent of any wrongdoing and intends to work aggressively to clear his name,” Kuehne said.
After a 17-year law enforcement career, Martinez was elected to the commission in 2000. He resigned the seat in 2012 over a failed run for county mayor, then failed in a Republican run for Congress in 2014. He was elected to rejoin to the commission in 2016 and re-elected in 2020.
Martínez is the first commissioner accused of political corruption in the last 20 years.
