If the broad light of day could be let in upon men’s actions, it would purify them as the sun disinfects.

Yesterday we soldiered over to the Miami Dade Commission on Ethics for their monthly hearing where we expected to see the ethics case against embattled city of South Miami police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro come to a conclusion.  As we had mentioned in yesterday's post, the good folks over at the Ethics Commission had cut a sweet heart deal with the chief and his attorneys where he essentially plead no contest and was given a small fine (which wasn't classified as a fine) and then sent on his way.

Unfortunately though not enough of the ethics commission board members showed up to form a quorum so the board couldn't vote on the plea deal, essentially it was a total waste of time for everyone that showed up.  With that said, I can't begin to describe how disappointed I am in how things have turned out over at the Commission on Ethics regarding this matter.  I personally met several times with investigators and the advocate, Michael Murawski, who theoretically is there to represent the people of Miami Dade County.  Generally, I think I'm pretty good at reading people and I have to tell you, Mr Murawski and his staff did one hell of a job bullshitting me about this case, they had me convinced that they were moving forward at all costs against the chief and that they had an open and shut case.  Unfortunately though, I was wrong, the fix was in long ago in this case, Mr Murawski and company were doing nothing but what they've been accused of time and time again, simply giving free passes to the politically connected here in Miami Dade County.

Go back and listen to Mr Murawski in the recording we posted yesterday where he vehemently states that he had a strong enough case where if he went forward, he was certain he was going to prevail.  With that said, he then goes on to say that it was in the public's interest to go ahead and cut a deal with a man who he knew was guilty of the ethics violations that were filed against him.  I ask you this, if we're talking about the public's interest to cut a deal with this character and let him off the hook, how the hell did it take nearly a year and a half to come to this conclusion?  Was it in the public's interest for the ethics commission to spin it's wheels for the past year and half?  Just how much did it cost the tax payers before you came to this conclusion Mr. Murawski?  The fine, I'm sorry, investigative costs that you billed Mr de Castro for, just how many hours of your "investigation" does that actually cover?

It's all bullshit folks, the Miami Dade Commission on Ethics is nothing more than a dog and pony show, a sham, a total waste of money.  

As frustrating as the whole experience was, I emerged from the aborted meeting in a funk and a cloud of confusion, that is until I made it out to the hallway outside the ethics commission's offices where at the other end of the hallway just out of earshot I found this scene...

Granted, that's a pretty shitting photo that's been cropped but what you see there is a meeting between Mr Murawski, Orlando Martinez de Castro and his attorneys and way in the back you can see possibly one of the worst former police chiefs in the history of the City of Miami, Kenneth Harms.  This scene made me as well as everyone else who saw it extremely uncomfortable.  What we see here is the advocate for the people of Miami Dade County, Murawski, cavorting with the very people he was supposedly fighting against on our behalf.  While it's technically not a violation of the state's sunshine laws, this meeting gave off an air of impropriety and definitely erased any veneer of impartiality that these ethics proceedings may have had.

With that said, our friend and fellow blogger, Al Crespo, came to the rescue and decided to confront Mr Murawski and crew, I managed to capture a shitty video of the entire interaction...



In case you couldn't make out the audio, here's how it went down...

Al Crespo: We figured we'd stand in and listen to the conversation, you got a public hallway, you got a public official here...

Murawski: Well we'll go someplace that's not public.

Al Crespo: Oh ok!

Unknown: Thank you for giving us this opportunity.

Emaciated looking old man under his breath: Straw buyer

Al Crespo: Always good to see transparency in government!

SWEET!  There you have it!  We no longer have to imagine how these backdoor deals go down, now you see it right before your eyes!  A perfect example of how things are done here in Miami Dade County, of all places at the Ethics Commission no less, which brings us to the title of today's post, a quote from former supreme court justice Louis Brandeis...

If the broad light of day could be let in upon men’s actions, it would purify them as the sun disinfects.

As soon as the sunlight hit the characters in the hallway, they scurried away like rats!  

Fuck it, just another day in Miami!  Till next time...

Meanwhile at the Ethics Commission....

Last month the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission met to discuss a possible plea deal for embattled City of South Miami police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro in the ethics case that was filed as a result of his sending city business to his wife's tag agency.  We've had an audio recording of what went on during that meeting but have been struggling for weeks to try to figure out how the hell to post it in such a way that you guys can listen to it.  With that said, hopefully this link will let you listen in on what went on at the last ethics commission meeting...

The man you hear speaking on behalf of the citizens of Miami Dade County is Michael Murawski who is the staff attorney over at the commission who is responsible for handling the case against Mr de Castro.  The recording speaks for itself, according to Mr Murawski the South Miami cops are protecting their chief and refuse to testify against him and aside from paying some fines that the ethics commission have reclassified as "investigative costs", the chief is pleading "no contest" and being given a letter of instruction.  That was what was supposed to happen but then at the last minute the chief's criminal attorney, Simon Steckel, said that he had to talk to his client before he could accept the deal therefore delaying the plea till the next ethics commission meeting, which turns out to be today, June 13.  Hopefully we'll be able to get a recording of today's meeting, as soon as we get it we'll post it up.

The question that remains unanswered though is that if Mr. Murawski and his colleagues over at the ethics commission are so sure that they'd prevail if they went forward against the chief, then why the hell did they cut such a sweet deal and basically give him a slap on the wrist for what was an open and shut case?

An update on embattled City of South Miami Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro's ethics case.

There's been plenty of rumors leading up to the deadline given to embattled City of South Miami Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro to accept a plea in his ethics case that's before the Miami Dade county ethics commission.  We've heard all sorts of stories ranging from the ethics commission dropping the charges or even having the chief admit no guilt and pay a fine.  To say those rumors were disheartening would be an understatement, if indeed any of those rumors were true, it would just feed into the overall belief that the Ethics Commission is nothing but a paper tiger that was solely in existence to give free passes to those who are politically connected in our town.

With that said, I reached out to my source at the ethics commission to see what was going on since the deadline that we were told for the plea offer, May 22, had come and gone and to see if this rumor about the chief dispensing of the case with a simple fine and no admission of guilt was true.  The response I got regarding the rumors was short and sweet, THEY ARE FALSE and it appears that the ethics case is going to trail!

It looks like it's going to be an interesting next few months as the ethics commission moves forward with it's case against the chief.  Till then, next week we'll pick up where we left off with our first amendment rights being trampled on by the state attorneys office and we'll deal with a public information request from the City of South Miami regarding the federal NCIC database.

The clock is ticking for embattled City of South Miami police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro...

That's right folks!  You all remember the ethics complaint we filed against embattled City of South Miami Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro, don't you?  For those of you who don't remember, after we discovered that the Chief was steering city business to his family's tag agency, we went ahead and met with the head of the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission, Joe Centorino, and filed a formal complaint against the chief for his nefarious activities.  If you're keeping track, that was over a year ago, we keep pestering the folks over at the ethics commission and have even met with the investigators in charge to get an answer on what's going on with the case against the chief.  At first I was told that they couldn't comment on the case then it seems that they warmed up to me and gave me details of what was going on, unfortunately though, I can't discuss what they told me!

Now our sources tell us that despite of the stall tactics the chief and his lawyers have used to avoid depositions and a trial, the ethics commission has given the chief an ultimatum, he's got till May 22, 2013 to accept a plea deal or his case goes to trial.  The only problem with the plea offers he's gotten is that if he were to accept either one of them, he'd automatically lose his job as the police chief of South Miami.  

Isn't that ironic?  It seems like just yesterday when the three tellers that worked at the chief's wife's tag agency were getting a plea deal crammed down their throats in the bullshit case the chief and his wife put together against their former employees, now it's the chief himself who's contemplating a plea deal that could mean the end of his law enforcement career!

It's rather obvious that the chief won't accept a plea deal, so despite the deadline, we're going to have to wait for his case to go to trial.  It's refreshing to see the folks over at the Ethics Commission take a stand and see this case through the end rather than give the chief a slap on the wrist and send him on his way.    

Embattled City of South Miami Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro issues a mea culpa regarding the Airways Auto Tag agency scandal.

Just when things were getting a little boring regarding the embattled City of South Miami Police Chief, Orlando Martinez de Castro, and the mess he created by sending city business over to his wife's tag agency, we get an anonymous email that manages to stir the pot up again.  

Now before we go ahead and post up the email, think about the circumstances, I bust the city sending business over to the chief's wife's tag agency, a tag agency well outside the City of South Miami city limits.  According to my sources and the witnesses that I interviewed, the Chief routinely sent city business to his wife's tag agency, not only did he have people from the city travel ten or so miles to his wife's tag agency to transact business but according to several of the tag agency's ex employees, the chief would bring home tag work from the city and give it to his wife who would bring it back the following evening for the chief to bring back to the city.  All well and good, right?  As we now know, my version of events was good enough for not only the Miami Herald to pick up but it was credible enough that the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission went ahead and conducted an investigation into the matter and ultimately ended up charging the chief with four ethics violations.

Now, let's put the shoe on the other foot for a moment and look at things from the Chief's perspective.  According to the Chief, he had no idea that the city was taking business over to his wife's tag agency and in fact it was Major Ana Baixauli who approved and conducted these transactions without his knowledge.  Ok, for the sake of argument, let's be fair and say that the chief's explanation is plausible.  Now, if you were in the chief's position, how would you feel about this situation?  Think about it for a moment, some jerk with a blog on the last page of the internet outs some embarrassing business transactions between your employer and your wife's business, the Miami Herald picks up the story and further spreads this embarrassing story and all the while according to his explanation, he had nothing to do with the whole deal and even worse, the whole mess was orchestrated by one of his underlings, Major Baixauli, how would you feel if you were the chief?  I know if I was in his shoes, I'd be rip roaring mad, I'd of walked into the police department and ripped Major Baixauli a new asshole and held her responsible for what went down.  

Strangely enough, that's not what happened.  Instead of holding those that were allegedly accountable for this mess that was visited upon the chief, the chief goes ahead and sends out an email apologizing for the mess that he created, take a look at the email for yourselves...

Wait a minute!  WTF!

The chief's apologizing for sending business over to his wife's tag agency!  I thought it was Baixauli's fault?  What would the chief be apologizing if it wasn't his fault?  Why the hell isn't there an email or any kind of record for the chief reprimanding the Major?  LOL!

This is only the beginning of the email, we'll discuss the rest of the email tomorrow.  Till then, thanks again to the reader who sent me the email and as always, if you have something you'd like to send me anonymously, go to www.silentsender.com and fire away!

So what about that ethics hearing that was supposed to happen this month?

Several months ago the Miami Dade Ethics Commission sent out a press release stating that they were going to move forward with a public hearing into the alleged ethics violations committed by City of South Miami police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro.  In case you missed it, here it is again...

Police Chief faces ethics violations
The police chief of South Miami is facing four charges of violating ethics laws for steering city business to his wife’s companies. The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust (COE) today found probable cause that Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro violated South Miami’s “prohibition on transacting business with the city,” as well the County Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance’s “prohibition on exploitation of official position.” The complaint against Martinez de Castro (C 12-31) cites three times during 2011when the South Miami Police Department contracted with Airways Auto Tag Agency for tags and titles for forfeiture vehicles. Airways is owned by Ileana Martinez de Castro, the police chief’s wife. She also owns Beck & Lo’s Insurance Agency, Inc. Last April, Chief de Castro used his city e-mail account to solicit business for his wife’s agency. The case will proceed to a public hearing.

Shortly after the press release, our sources from within the ethics commission told us that the case was going to proceed to a public hearing at some point during January 2013.  Well, guess what?  Here we are smack dab in the middle of January 2013 and I haven't heard word about an ethics commission hearing regarding the police chief.  WTF is that about?

In fact, to add insult to injury, last Friday I was told that the hearing has been postponed till some time this summer!  HUH?

How the hell could that be?  From our standpoint, this seemed like a slam dunk, open and shut case, what in the hell is Joe Centerino and his cohorts on the ethics commission thinking about?  Isn't it amazing how quickly the ethics commission acts with certain politicians and how they drag their feet with others?  Could the ethics commission's decision to postpone the hearing have anything to do with embattled City of South Miami police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro's relationship with Centorino's former boss and state attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle?  Who knows, at the very least, this is a disappointing turn for Centorino's commission and possibly just another example of how when it comes to "let em go Joe" nothing has changed.

We'll drop the Ethics Commission an email and see what they have to say.

The start of a new year and a proposition for the Martinez de Castro clan.

Party's over.  After spending the last two or so weeks lounging around and doing nothing, it's back to the grind.  I apologize to our readers for not posting as I had promised during the holiday break, trust me, I really did need the time off.

Now, during the holiday break I had plenty of time to think things over, especially regarding the City of South Miami Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro and his upcoming hearing with the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission.  Since we started to write about the Chief and his wife's tag agency over a year ago, it never once dawned on me to see things from the Chief's perspective, I've always approached the subject of the chief's behavior and the situation with his wife's tag agency from my perspective, that is the perspective I was able develop from my examination of the documents associated with the various cases and incidents.  Perhaps there's an explanation for everything?  After all these years of writing about how unfair the cops and prosecutors are, have I found myself guilty of the same faults that I've accused them of making?  Whatever happened to "the presumption of innocence?"

With that said, I'd like to start the new year off on a new leaf and would like to afford both the Chief and his wife the opportunity to explain themselves.  I know that might sound a little outrageous to some, why would they want to talk to some jerk with a blog on the last page of the internet?  Let's not forget that it was our humble little blog that put the chief in the position he's in today where he risks losing his job if he's found guilty of the ethics violations that were levied against him and as far as his wife's tag agency and the three girls that they accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from, I suspect if not for our actions throughout the course of last year, the three girls would probably already be serving time behind bars.

So how about Chief?  I'd be more than willing to listen if you'd like to talk.  I'm sure by now you know how to reach me, I'll be waiting...

The emperor has no clothes on! City of South Miami Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro is slowly losing his powers over at the city.

In a startling move last night, the City of South Miami city commission voted to relieve embattled police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro of two of his most important duties other than running the police department.  I'm not exactly sure why but up until last night the city's code enforcement office and the city's parking operations were under the command and control of the police chief.  This makes absolutely no sense to me, shouldn't the chief be busy running his police force rather than taking care of matters that really have nothing to do with his intended role?

As we saw several month ago, the police chief used his code enforcement department to illegally detain local handyman Warren Papove with allegations of "working without a permit" until Immigration agents were able to arrive and arrest him for immigration violations that had nothing to do with the alleged code enforcement issue.  We're going to learn a little later another major reason why the chief was in charge of code enforcement, but suffice it to say that he's no longer in charge.  The commission voted 3 to 2 to remove the code enforcement department from the chief's control.  As I understand it, they voted to remove the parking department from the chief's control as well but it has to go to another vote before it's finalized.  Little by little, it seems that the chief is losing his grip on the city, I suspect the next step is going to be the new City Manager showing him the door...

Now, we had an interesting comment on yesterday's post...

Oh this is an easy one.. I try to have the answer before I ask the question with my city. That way it is easier to prove they are lying.. I actually had to vist Ms. Rundle and her Public corruption staff many a time when I found the city to be lying.. The city was out on notice that next time i will sue their asses off. Re-submit your PRR with as many names as possible. When they search their mainframe it is based on keywords. Do yourself a favor and ask for all text messages and emails from the Chiefs city issued phone. Watch the sparks fly. The city will try and nail you with expenses but they cannot. The carrier has all this information and the client is entitled to it. The city is the client, therefore no work must be done.

That's a great comment, I had never thought to ask for the chief's text messages.  As far as being stonewalled by the city clerk with my public information requests, that's real simple.  I've been told that the IT people over at the city as well as the vendor that the city uses for their IT work are all friends of the chief so it's easy to understand why I'm not getting anywhere with my requests.  After all, doesn't it stand to reason that if there's incriminating emails that will paint the chief in a bad light that his friends would do everything they can to keep them from coming to light?  Regardless, if we don't get anywhere with these requests, we'll take a page from our friend Al Crespo's book and go ahead and sue the city for the documents that we suspect exist and are being kept from us.

On another note, I've been told from several sources that the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission has been sending out subpoenas to various city departments and employees  in preparation for his ethics hearing in January.  If anyone reading has one of these subpoenas, please get me a copy!

The Miami Dade County Ethics Commission slams local politicians...

We received a press release from the Miami Dade Ethics Commission yesterday detailing several cases that they've brought against local politicians.  From the press release...

The Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics and Public Trust (COE) today found Probable Cause that North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre exploited his position from October of 2009 through January of 2012 by avoiding payment of rental fees at a municipal athletic field used by his soccer club. Mayor Pierre engaged in this activity even though a resolution was unanimously passed by the North Miami City Council in April 2010, which established policies for park rentals and limited fee waivers to certain qualified organizations for only one no-cost use per year. The complaint (C12-35) charged that Pierre’s group, the “North Miami Taxpayers Soccer Club,” used the fields more than 100 times without paying. Mayor Pierre objected to the accusation through his attorney, who argued the mayor was following proper protocol by utilizing the facility for “pick-up soccer games” and claimed the usage was consistent with “community service” activities of the city. The case will proceed to a public hearing.

It's about time someone brought some sort of an action against this character. Unfortunately local authorities have chosen to ignore Mr. Pierre's most egregious crimes and somehow latched onto this infraction. Oh well...

Also today, the Ethics Commission found Probable Cause that Miami City Commissioner Frank Carollo exploited his official position by calling the Miami police chief after being pulled over for a traffic violation in Coconut Grove this past August. The investigation shows that, after being pulled over, Carollo called the chief, who subsequently called the area commander, who then told dispatchers to have the officer call him. The officer let Carollo go with a warning. The determination found that Carollo may have used or intended to exploit his position to influence police officials, which is a violation of the Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance. Through his attorney, the Commissioner contended his phone call was intended to determine why several police vehicles and a city recycling truck were blocking the road. Carollo also claimed that he never asked for special treatment or expressed concern with the officer’s stop. Another part of the complaint (C 12-32) accused Commissioner Carollo of using his position to have trees planted in the swale near his home. Since the trees were part of a larger distribution through the district and did not solely benefit Carollo, No Probable Cause was found on that portion of the complaint by the Ethics Commission.

Get pulled over by the cops then call the chief to get you off.  Wouldn't there have been a better way to deal with this?  What a dick!  If I'm not mistaken, we can credit our friend Al Crespo for bringing about these complaints against Mr. Carollo. Nice work Al!

The COE also found Probable Cause on a complaint (C 12-41) against Miami City Commissioner Marc Sarnoff, accusing him of failing to properly disclose a gift. Sarnoff traveled to Brazil for activities associated with the Volvo Ocean Race at the stop prior to the race’s arrival in Miami last May. The Greater Miami Convention and Visitor’s Bureau reimbursed Sarnoff for all of his expenses. The COE disagreed with the Miami City Attorney who had opined to the commissioner that, because he was partaking in an official activity, he did not need to report the trip as a gift. During the investigation, it was learned that Volvo Ocean Race reimbursed Sarnoff for his wife’s roundtrip airfare. Prior opinions had determined that payment for a spouse’s expenses should be reported as a gift by an elected official. The Ethics Commission voted to issue one Letter of Instruction to the City Attorney clarifying when a business trip must be reported as a gift and another Letter of Instruction to Commissioner Sarnoff advising him to report reimbursement of his wife’s travel expenses as a gift to him.

That's it? Considering all the questionable behavior that Mr. Sarnoff has been involved in during his tenure as a City of Miami commissioner, this is all they could come up with? Regardless, once again, we can credit our friend Al Crespo for bringing this story to the public.

Having the Ethics Commission finding probable cause against these local politicians is all well and good but what's the point of all of this if all they're going to do is give them a slap on the wrist, a minor fine and then send them on their way?  In the instance of City of South Miami police chief Orlando Martinez de Castro and his pending ethics case, if he's found guilty of any of the charges brought against him, he automatically loses his job as per the City of South Miami code of ethics ordinance... 

Willful violation of this subsection shall constitute malfeasance in office and shall effect forfeiture of office or position.

So what remains to be seen is how the Chief's ethics case plays out, will he proceed to a full public hearing and risk getting found guilty of the charges filed against him or will cut a deal at the last minute pleading to a lesser charge and hope to keep his job?  Who knows, but no worries, before we get there, we have to get over to the ethics commission and discuss some of the chief's newest ethics violations, one of which definitely rises to the level of criminality.  Stay tuned...
 

The Herald picks up the City of South Miami Police Chief ethics story and a question for our readers, would you consider a bullet hole in a friend a "blemish"?

The Miami Herald decided to pick up our story, once again without mentioning us, on City of South Miami's Police Chief, Orlando Martinez de Castro, and his problems with the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission.  Check it for yourselves...

South Miami police chief accused of violating ethics laws
ANDREA TORRES

The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust announced Tuesday that investigators found evidence that Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro violated South Miami’s “prohibition on transacting business with the city,” as well the County Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance’s “prohibition on exploitation of official position.”

“The chief has been in law enforcement over 40 years with an unblemished record,” said Martinez de Castro’s Coral Gables attorney Simon Steckel. “We are looking forward to going to a full evidentiary hearing where we believe he will be completely vindicated.”

The accusations are related to two of his wife’s businesses -- Airways Auto Tag Agency and Beck & Lo’s Insurance Agency.

The South Miami Police Department contracted Airways three times during 2011 for tags and titles for forfeiture vehicles. Steckel said Martinez de Castro did not approve the transactions and was not in the direct chain of command. Major Ana Baixauli was.

The police chief is also being accused of using his city e-mail in April to solicit business for Beck & Lo.

“It was not a solicitation of business,” Steckel said. “The person to whom he is accused of soliciting business to has never been interviewed.”

The case will proceed to a public hearing.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/10/23/v-print/3063847/chief-accused-of-violating-ethics.html#storylink=cpy

That's all well and good, it's nice to hear that Chief Martinez de Castro's attorney will be vigorously defending the chief during this public hearing.  There's one thing that really bothered me though (other than the Herald not mentioning us) and that is this statement from the Chief's attorney, Simon Steckel...

“The chief has been in law enforcement over 40 years with an unblemished record,”

Are you sure about that Mr. Steckel?  Unblemished?  I can think of several blemishes that exist over the Chief's 40 year career in law enforcement but for the sake of today's argument, let's step into the Straw Buyer's time machine and go back to 1971 and see what we can find...

As always, click on the image to enlarge...

Well, well, well...

So according to the article, Officer Martinez de Castro goes over to a friends apartment and bumps into another friend Miguel Vives, they start horsing around, Mr. Vives calls Mr. Martinez de Castro "fatman" and next thing he knows he's DEAD from a bullet fired from Officer Martinez's gun!  DAMN!

So what do you say Mr. Steckel?  I'd be willing to say that the bullet hole in Mr. Vives is a "blemish", wouldn't you?  The circumstances surrounding this "accidental" shooting are rather suspicious to say the least, I'm going to do a little more digging to see what I can come up with, unfortunately, Mr. Vives won't be of much help.

So what's the takeaway from today's post?  NEVER CALL ORLANDO MARTINEZ DE CASTRO "FATMAN"!!!!!! 

City of South Miami police chief in deep shit...

It seems like just yesterday we were moaning about how the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission was dragging it's feet in the investigation that arose from our ethics complaint against the City of South Miami Police Chief, Orlando Martinez de Castro, for steering city business to his wife's tag agency.  Literally an hour after I made that post we get this email from the Ethics Commission...

For Immediate Release:  October 23, 2012
Contact: Joseph Centorino, Executive Director
 (305) 350-0613 or centori@miamidade.gov

Police Chief faces ethics violations 

The police chief of South Miami is facing four charges of violating ethics laws for steering city business to his wife’s companies.  The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust (COE) today found probable cause that Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro violated South Miami’s “prohibition on transacting business with the city,” as well the County Conflict of Interest and Code of Ethics Ordinance’s “prohibition on exploitation of official position.”  The complaint against Martinez de Castro (C 12-31) cites three times during 2011when the South Miami Police Department contracted with Airways Auto Tag Agency for tags and titles for forfeiture vehicles.  Airways is owned by Ileana Martinez de Castro, the police chief’s wife.  She also owns Beck & Lo’s Insurance Agency, Inc.  Last April, Chief de Castro used his city e-mail account to solicit business for his wife’s agency.   The case will proceed to a public hearing.

HOLY CRAP!

This press release confirms rumors that we heard months ago.  Our sources told us that the ethics commission had issued a probable cause letter several months ago and that Chief Martinez had hired a criminal defense attorney that was trying to cut a deal with the Ethics Commission to let him simply get off with a fine or some other slap on the wrist.  Luckily for us, the Ethics Commission stood firm and refused to let Chief Martinez off, now we have to wait for the public hearing and see how things pan out.  Our sources also tell us that Chief Martinez has hired Miami doper era criminal defense attorney Simon Steckel to defend him during this ethics investigation.  Mr Steckel is an interesting character with a checkered past, you can read a little about him here and here.

The consequences of this public hearing could be dire for the chief, let's not forget that if he's found guilty, his cushy job as the chief of police is TOAST!  What's really sick about this whole ordeal though is that we're told that the Chief's defense is going to consist of making City of South Miami Police Major Ana Baixauli the scapegoat for his misdeeds.  That's too bad but is to be expected from someone like Chief Martinez, I guess we'll have to end up giving the ethics commission the video recordings of people we interviewed over the last year who told us in no uncertain terms that the Chief himself directed them to take city business to his wife's tag agency...

The tale of two emails...

Fucking emails...

All day, all night my inbox is constantly buzzing with emails.  With the exception of the nonsensical emails my friends send me, I don't know what I'd do without email.  I can't even begin to tell  you how many times emails have saved my ass by memorializing conversations that I've had were the other people involved had conveniently forgotten critical parts of our conversations that were to my benefit.  

Regardless, what a lot of people seem to somehow forget is that emails create a permanent record of conversations that can be referred back to when the contents of the conversation are in question.  This is particularly useful, or troublesome depending on the content of the email, if you're a public official in the state of Florida who is subject to the states wide ranging Sunshine Laws regarding public records.  Take for example this email that was sent from City of South Miami deputy city clerk Nikki Payne to City of South Miami Commissioner Valerie Newman...

Email From Nikki Payne to Valerie Newman

No big deal, this is simply an email from the deputy city clerk in response to a public information request from Commissioner Newman regarding the arrest of a man named Davidson Schmich (we'll discuss this case later).  In response to the public information request the clerk simply says...

Good afternoon,
Attached please find the information regarding your public records request.
Thanks,

Simple enough right?  Now look what happens to that very same email that city clerk sent to Newman at 4:23 September 21, 2012 when the commissioner forwarded it to her peeps...

Email From Nikki Payne to Valerie Newman Altered

NO SHIT?

Did you guys catch that?  Let's look at the contents of the original email again...

Now look at the altered version of this email that Commissioner Newman sent out to her cronies...

Where the hell did this part come from?

LOL!  We've busted City of South Miami Commissioner Valerie Newman tampering with then sending out a fraudulent email!

So why the hell would the Commissioner feel the need to commit fraud by sending out this obviously altered email?  Could she have had any other intention than to mislead the reader into thinking that the City Clerk had sent the email with the extra couple of paragraphs rather than that rather innocuous first email that was simply acknowledging a public records request?  This seems like nothing more than a simple case of FRAUD with a side dish of FORGERY!

We'll get into the back story and explore her possible reasons for this major ethical lapse tomorrow, in the mean time, we're going to forward Commissioner Newman's foray into the world of fraud to our friends over at the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission...

The Miami Dade Ethics Commission responds...

For what it's worth, the Miami Dade Ethics Commission finally responded to our request for any materials regarding the ethics complaint that arose from our Airways Auto Tag Agency story against City of South Miami police chief, Orlando Martinez de Castro.  Check out the response we got from Ethics Commission advocate Michael Murawski...

Dear Mr. Hatami:  

Thank you again for the information you provided to us. At this time, no public records exist concerning this matter and I can not confirm the status of any of your inquires.  

Sincerely, Michael Murawski

Oh, Ok!  Mr Murawski's response is a bit underwhelming, but while the investigation into Chief Martinez's alleged unethical activities are ongoing, all the records pertaining to the investigation are not "public record".  That's all well and good but what bothers me is how long this investigation has taken, I understand that the allegations are a bit more serious than the allegations that the ethics commission had against commissioner Bob Welsh a few months back, but really, how much time do they need to wrap this up?  Our sources from within the South Miami Police Department tell us that investigators from the Ethics Commission have interviewed several police officers who have all said that the Chief did indeed steer city business to his wife's business, so if indeed that is the case, what's taking so long?

Some news on the ethics investigation into South Miami's police chief through a rather unusual source...

Anyone wonder whats been going on with that investigation by the Miami Dade Ethics Commission into the Chief of Police of the City of South Miami, Orlando Martinez de Castro, for allegedly steering city business to his wife's tag agency?  We've contacted the ethics commission several times since they opened the investigation into Chief Martinez's activities and they've always told us that they can't comment because it's an ongoing investigation.  That's understandable I guess.

Recently though, word has reached us that the Ethics Commission had found probable cause to move forward against the chief for allegedly sending his wife's tag agency business, clearly in violation of the City of South Miami's own ethics code.  Unfortunately though, I haven't been able to substantiate any of these rumors, that is till the other day when I received a letter in the mail with no return address.  I've redacted some sensitive information that we'll reveal a little later on, but for now take a look at the letter for yourselves...

So according to this letter the Ethics Commission has found probably cause against South Miami Police Chief Orlando Martinez de Castro on four counts, one of which is a misdemeanor.  If true, this certainly doesn't bode well for the chief since as per the City's own code of ethics, he'll have to forfeit his job as the police chief!  Accordingly if we're to believe the contents of this letter, Chief Martinez has gone ahead and hired a criminal defense attorney which is completely understandable as his job is on the line.

Another source tells us that the Ethics Commission did indeed send a probable cause letter to the chief.  Several people claim to have heard the Chief ranting and raving in his office after receiving and reading this letter claiming "this is serious" and that he could "lose his job over this".  Indeed Mr. Martinez de Castro, this is serious and yes, you could lose your job over this! 

Now, isn't it ironic that just a few months after we starting writing about how the chief's wife had railroaded three innocent girls in the Airways Auto Tag Agency boondoggle that now the chief himself allegedly has to go out and hire his own criminal defense attorney?  

That's some ironic shit right there folks.  Regardless, things are really starting to heat up in South Miami, there's some really ugly shit going on down there.  Stay tuned...

Ethics Commission? We don't need no stinking ethics commission!

While those of us that are following the City of South Miami/Airways Auto Tag Agency boondoggle are sitting around on our hands waiting for the Miami Dade Ethics Commission to render a decision on possible ethics violations by the city's police chief for steering business to his wife's tag agency, there seems to be another remedy in place to deal with just such a situation.  Courtesy of one of our readers who brought it to our attention...

SOUTH MIAMI CITY CHARTER
14 AMENDED 2-14-12

ARTICLE II (Cont’d)

SECTION 9.

Investigations
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Charter, the Commission or its authorized representative or representatives may make investigation into the affairs of this City and the conduct of any City department, Board, Officer or Agency and for this purpose may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony and require the production of evidence. Any person who fails to obey a lawful order issued in the exercise of these powers by the Commission shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of not more than $500.00 or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.

NO KIDDING?!  This would be the same commission that seems to be proactive on so many other fronts, why haven't they moved forward with an investigation into this matter on their own rather than sit around and wait for the folks downtown at the Ethics Commission?  Does this make any sense?  What exactly is going on down in South Miami these days?  According to the Miami New Times yesterday...

The leafy hamlet of South Miami has turned into a cesspool of political backbiting and allegations of unethical behavior by some of its officials.

YIKES!  Of course, we know where those allegations of unethical behavior came from... 

Now, here's another comment that one of our readers left for us the other day that got our attention...

I WAS WONDERING WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS TELLERS I THOUGH THEY WERE FREE FROM ALL THIS CRAP BUT I GUESS NOT WOW THIS NEEDS TO GET SOLVE THEY NEED JUSTICE

This comment refers to the three tellers that were arrested for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Airways Auto Tag agency which happens to be owned by the City of South Miami's Police Chief's wife.  Not much has happened over the last few months, which is to be expected as ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENS IN THE CRIMINAL COURT SYSTEM DURING LATE SPRING AND SUMMER!  Most lawyers and judges are out for the summer and if you have the misfortune of being stuck in the criminal justice system, well, YOU'RE FUCKED.  Now despite the summer break, I have heard one unconfirmed rumor regarding this case, my sources tell me that the owner of the tag agency, Ileana Martinez de Castro, has offered to drop the charges against the three tellers if they simply write a letter of apology to her for their alleged thefts.

LOL!  How do we go from accusing the three tellers of stealing tens of thousands of dollars and wanting to get them locked up to simply asking for a letter of apology and having the whole thing go away?  WTF?  While justice may not be swift, it'll come sooner or later, it's karma that you have to watch out for...

The ethics commission issues a questionable ruling...

Bicycle Bob Welsh

While we're waiting for the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission to conclude their investigation and issue a ruling in the case of the City of South Miami's police chief, Orlando Martinez de Castro, steering business to his wife's auto tag agency, the ethics commission issued a ruling involving another matter from the City of South Miami.  From the press release yesterday...

Settlement reached with South Miami Commissioner
The Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust (COE) has reached a settlement after probable cause was found last month that South Miami City Commissioner Robert Welsh violated the County Ethics Code. The complaint (C 12-25) alleged that the commissioner, who was elected in February, spoke with two bidders in April about a pending city contract while the proposals were still under consideration, which is prohibited by procurement rules.  As part of the settlement agreed to today, Commissioner Welsh will pay $250 in investigative costs and accept a Letter of Instruction.

No shit?  City of South Miami commissioner Robert Welsh got in trouble for simply speaking to two bidders that had pending bids on a city project?  YIKES!  Is this an example of a commissioner who really did something wrong or simply a matter of a South Florida politician that isn't plugged into "the machine" that routinely gives its members a free pass when brought before the ethics commission or the state attorneys office?  In my humble oppinion, I'd suggest the latter.  From what I know about Robert "Bicycle Bob" Welsh, he seems to be one of the only politicians in South Florida that genuinely has his constituents needs, wants and desires at the forefront of his agenda.  I honestly believe that this finding by the ethics commission is a travesty that's stained an otherwise untarnished record by Mr. Welsh.


Regardless, considering this finding against Commissioner Welsh for violating the county ethics code, how do you think they're going to rule against South Miami's police chief for sending city business to his wife's tag agency?  Considering that there is a clearly defined punishement for such behavior in the city's own ethics code, I have to wonder.  In case you've forgotten, take a look at the consequences of the Chief's behavior...

(c)Prohibition on transacting business with the city. No person included in the terms defined in paragraphs (b)(1) through (6) and in paragraph (b)(9) shall enter into any contract or transact any business in which that person or a member of the immediate family has a financial interest, direct or indirect with the city or any person or agency acting for the city, and any such contract, agreement or business engagement entered in violation of this subsection shall render the transaction voidable. Willful violation of this subsection shall constitute malfeasance in office and shall effect forfeiture of office or position.

Now, does anyone really think the chief is going to lose his job over this ethical lapse?  You'd be foolish to think so.  Like I mentioned before, it all comes down to whether or not you're part of the "the machine" and I can certainly guarantee you that the chief is part of that "machine".  I honestly doubt the ethics commission is going to find anything wrong with the chief's behavior but then again perhaps the publicity we've brought to the investigation and the process involved with reaching a ruling, maybe we'll be surprised.

So what happened to the ethics investigation we initiated?

Joe Centorino

A while back after we stumbled upon the incestuous relationship between the City of South Miami and it's police chief's wife's business, we just happened to be over at the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission where we discussed how the city was doing business with an auto tag agency that was owned by the police chief's wife.  During my meeting with the head of the Ethics Commission, Joe Centorino, we were assured that they were going to look into the matter immediately and get to the bottom of what was going on.  

Mirabile

Although it's been several months since the investigation began, after repeated emails and phone calls, I was never able to get a definitive answer as to the status of the investigation.  The first problem with the investigation arose when I found out that the investigator assigned to the case was a personal friend and former colleague of the City of South Miami's city manager, Hector Mirabile.  So much for a fair investigation right?  After all, how could we expect anything other than a bullshit result when the investigator was in cahoots with the city manager who appointed the very police chief that was being investigated for wrong doing?  Regardless, about a month into the investigation, I received word that the investigator was removed from the case and a new one was assigned who hopefully didn't have any ties to the people that were at the center of the investigation.

With that said, I finally got word yesterday from the lead investigator on the case that indeed the case was still open and is going forward.  I take that with a grain of salt as I have no idea what the Ethics Commissions findings are to date regarding this matter.  If their past findings in similar cases are any indication, I wouldn't get my hopes up but at least we know that even if they don't find anything wrong with the city doing business with the police chief's wife's business, at least we're beginning to peel back the layers of previously unreported graft and corruption and expose those involved.

Now on another note, I'm sure most of you are aware of the hotly contested race for the Miami Dade State Attorneys Office between incumbent Kathy Rundle and her challenger Rod Vereen.  The Miami Herald conducted an informal debate between the two candidates the other day, while I can't embed the video, take a look at this link that takes you to the Herald page with the video.  The video is worth watching, if nothing else for the subtle jabs that the two candidates take at each other.

Now, on to more serious business, our Miami Heat are one win away from winning the NBA finals, it's going to be a long night tonight.  With that said, GO HEAT!

Trying to understand what's going on with that ethics investigation...

I wonder how that investigation by the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission is going?  You all remember when we discovered that the City of South Miami was doing business with it's police chief's wife's business right?  We discovered that this business relationship was a clear violation of the city's own code of ethics and clearly against the county's code of ethics as well.  As we reported a while back, the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission found this business relationship so interesting that it decided to conduct an investigation to see what was going on down at South Miami.


While I was over at the ethics commission, I met with its head, Joe Centorino, and was then introduced to the investigator who was going to look into the strange relationship between the city and the chief's wife's business. The investigator I met that was assigned to the City of South Miami seemed a little less enthusiastic than I thought he would be about this case, at the time I couldn't figure out why.  Regardless, I told him everything that I knew and he basically told me that he'd get back to me after he had a chance to look at everything.  In the interim, I sent this investigator several emails to no avail.  I figured that they're doing their thing and it would be best to sit back and wait, so I left it at that.


Fast forward to last night when I got a bombshell dropped on me.  One of my sources tells me last night that the investigator assigned to South Miami is good close personal friends with the City of South Miami city manager, Hector Mirable, who is obviously tight with the chief!  So much for a fair and unbiased investigation!  It's no wonder that this investigator seemed uninterested in what I was telling him and it's rather obvious that considering the relationship between the investigator and the people that he was "supposedly" investigating that this ethics complaint wasn't going to go no where.  Oh well!

NO COMMENT GOD DAMN IT!

WTF?!  Somehow no one wants to comment on the possible investigation into the incestious relationship between the City of South Miami, it's police chief, Orlando Martinez de Castro and his wife's tag agency.  We've been following the story of the Airways Auto Tag Agency tellers who, at least in our opinion, were framed for the theft of tens of thousands of dollars that all allegedly occurred in one day at the City of South Miami Police Chief's wife's tag agency.  While we find the allegations in the police report against these three tellers to be ludicrous at best, what we accidentally stumbled upon during our investigation of this case was that the City of South Miami was doing business with the chief's wife's business, a clear violation of the city's own ethics code.

A few months back, we met with members of the Miami Dade County Ethics Commission and we brought up this conflict of interest story between the City of South Miami and the Police Chief's wife's business and were assured by none other than the commissions executive director, Joe Centorino, that these were very serious allegations and that they were going to look into this alleged "conflict of interest" right away.  I've tried to follow up several times and the only answer I've gotten to date is "we can't comment".  Ok, the other day a couple of different members of the mainstream media contacted me and asked me what I knew about the investigation after which I asked them what they've been able to find out.  It seems like no matter who they've asked, whether members of the Ethics Commission, City of South Miami commissioners, City of South Miami Mayor or even the Chief of Police, Orlando Martinez de Castro, across the board everyone has the same answer "No Comment"!  WTF?

Thankfully, we have our own sources which tell us that Chief Martinez de Castro has been telling those around him that he had no idea that the city was doing business with his family owned tag agency...

You don't say?  Anything is possible I guess.  While no one want's to comment on what's going on at the Ethics Commission regarding this City of South Miami/Airways Auto Tag mess, there's one thing that we know for sure, where there's smoke there's fire and after watching the way the three tellers from the Airways Auto Tag Agency boondoggle were railroaded, something tells me there's a lot more going on in Chief Martinez de Castro's little fiefdom than meets the eye...