Latest case alleges more corruption in South Florida government
Federal investigation is only the latest to target officials
By Sally Kestin and Peter Franceschina
January 11, 2009 | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
A shaving kit stuffed with cash, a political payoff delivered in gaming chips at a Nassau casino, free flights to the Bahamas and discounted stays at luxury resorts.
Federal prosecutors exposed the dirty world of public corruption in Palm Beach County with charges against five prominent politicians in just three years.
The most recent, County Commissioner Mary McCarty, resigned Thursday, saying she would plead guilty to a count of fraud.
The corruption is likely far more widespread than one county, former prosecutors and lawyers said.
"It's certainly not believable to assume that the entirety of the state's corruption is concentrated in Palm Beach," said Kendall Coffey, a Miami lawyer and the former U.S. attorney for South Florida.
In Broward County, former Sheriff Ken Jenne recently spent 10 months in federal prison for taking $151,625 in improper payments and services from sheriff's contractors.
Former Hollywood Commissioner Keith Wasserstrom is appealing his conviction on state charges for failing to disclose his financial ties to a sludge company that won an $18 million contract with the city.
In Deerfield Beach, suspended Mayor Al Capellini and former Commissioner Steve Gonot are facing state charges. Capellini is accused of voting on projects when he also was a paid consultant. Gonot allegedly stole $5,135 in campaign contributions. Both have said they are innocent.
"This is going on everywhere," said Marcos Jimenez, who also served as South Florida's U.S. attorney and now practices law in Miami. "I think, unfortunately, some public officials find the temptation too strong."
Former Palm Beach County Commissioner Tony Masilotti, who collected a payoff in gambling chips at the Atlantis Paradise Island resort, profited almost $10 million in secret land deals while in office. Masilotti, now serving five years in prison, and some of his relatives and friends also accepted $100,000 worth of free charter flights to the Bahamas and elsewhere.
Former West Palm Beach Commissioner Ray Liberti, who received the cash-filled shaving kit, took $66,000 and an expensive watch in return for pressuring the owners of a nightclub and massage parlor to sell their businesses.
McCarty helped her husband's companies get county bond business and accepted free and discounted stays in resorts, from a developer doing business with the county, according to federal prosecutors.
"A possibility is that folks [in Palm Beach County] thought they were in a smaller city, rather than Miami, and can do certain things and fly under the radar screen," Jimenez said. "That obviously did not pan out for them."
The corruption in Palm Beach County occurred during a development boom with millions at stake.
"No question that we had an atmosphere of tons of money, tons of projects," said Sid Dinerstein, chairman of the county's Republican Party. "We are talking about hotels and condos where every little decision influences millions of dollars."
Development also has occurred at a frantic pace in Broward, but with one key difference. In Palm Beach County, investigators turned up the scrutiny on elected officials after the arrests of four politicians, creating a public corruption task force in 2007.
"Quite clearly, the focus has been on us; and any time the feds dedicate resources and manpower to a particular problem, those people have to produce results," said John Tierney, a retired West Palm Beach defense attorney who specialized in federal white-collar fraud cases.
Tierney described the federal prosecutors working with the FBI as zealous.
Former U.S. Attorney Coffey said they have overcome an obstacle that often stymies corruption investigations: a reticence by witnesses who fear they will lose business opportunities by testifying.
"People who step forward in Palm Beach know their cases will be prosecuted very aggressively," Coffey said. "Crooked politicians are getting hammered."
And the weapon is an increasingly used federal law prohibiting honest services fraud. Many corruption statutes require proof that political favors were explicitly sold. Under honest services fraud, politicians can be charged for accepting benefits that merely allowed their judgment to be compromised.
Coffey and others said they expect to see more corruption charges against elected officials throughout South Florida.
"The way democracy works today, regrettably, is that the people who peddle money and influence are able to manipulate government figures," Tierney said. "It's a sad state of affairs."
Sally Kestin can be reached at skestin @SunSentinel.com or 954-356-4510. Peter Franceschina can be reached at pfranceschina@SunSentinel.com or 954-459-2255.
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