MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Former Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez is expected to be sentenced Monday after he was convicted last November on two felony charges of unlawful compensation.
The state argued Martinez took $15,000 in exchange for creating new legislation to help the owner of Extra Supermarket and its landlord with code violations.
During closing arguments, prosecutors said the fact that the money stopped coming in as soon as the ordinance failed to pass shows that it was a quid-pro-quo. Defense attorneys have argued that it was a private transaction with someone the former commissioner has known for years.
Out of a potential 20-year sentence, the state has asked for the minimum, 34-and-a-half months in state prison.
During a hearing last month, his attorneys said they want a downward departure: a withhold of adjudication, no formal conviction and much less prison time.
Miami-Dade County Judge Miguel de la O seemed inclined to agree, but said he needed more time and information to rule.
“I’m not sure what I would like to do is legal,” de la O said. “If I can do it legally, I will.”
Attorneys for Martinez said last month that no matter what the sentence ends up being, they will continue to fight the jury’s guilty verdicts.
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