3 June 8-14, 2023 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com New Times | Contents | Letters | news | night+Day | CuLture | Cafe | MusiC | MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2008 miaminewtimes.com MIAMI NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | RIPTIDE | METRO | NIGHT+DAY | STAGE | ART | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | ▼ NORTH MIAMI BEACH HOME AWAY FROM HOME NORTH MIAMI BEACH MAYOR ARRESTED AND CHARGED WITH VOTING MISCONDUCT. BY JESSE FRAGA O n June 5, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order suspending North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony DeFillipo “in the best interests of the residents of the City of North Miami Beach, and the citizens of the State of Florida.” Last week, DeFillipo was arrested and charged with three counts of voting misconduct after months of scrutiny over his residency changes and whether he used a false address to vote in elections in North Miami Beach. Prosecutors say DeFillipo violated Florida election law by failing to update his address in county records before submitting ballots in 2022. He sold his family’s longtime home- stead residence near Greynolds Park Elemen- tary in 2021, yet he proceeded to vote in three elections under that address – the primary, general, and North Miami Beach runoff elec- tions in 2022. DeFillipo did not provide an updated ad- dress to the county until nearly a year after he sold the family home, prosecutors say. County records indicate DeFillipo was booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correc- tional Center on the morning of May 31. He posted bond and by early afternoon, was no longer listed as an inmate at the jail. The charges he faces are third-degree fel- onies under Florida statute 104.15, which carry a maximum five-year prison term. Last week the City of North Miami Beach issued a statement that said, in part, “This is a resilient community, and together we will emerge stronger from this. We thank you for your continued support as we work towards a more transparent and accountable city government.” The mayor has been under scrutiny since late 2022 when an ethics complaint was filed against him alleging he did not live in North Miami Beach, but rather in a new $1.2 million house in Davie, in violation of the city charter requiring the mayor to reside within the city limits. DeFillipo sold the family home- stead residence in December 2021, then bought the sprawling house in the Sierra Ranches neighborhood of Davie seven months later. In a recent deposition, he maintained that he was living in a small apartment in North Miami Beach and that he had been deal- ing with marital problems that led his wife to move into the Davie house without him. A January 2023 legal opinion requested by city officials suggested that DeFillipo was ineligible to retain his position as mayor in light of evidence he no longer lived in North Miami Beach. DeFillipo’s attorney, Michael Pizzi, called the allegations “politically contrived nonsense.” The legal opinion also raised the separate matter of DeFillipo’s use of that outdated ad- dress on his voter registration — the issue at the heart of the criminal charges. “If suffi- cient evidence existed that DeFillipo willfully committed a violation of the election laws — such that it led to a charge or a conviction — the consequences of that violation could ultimately lead to his removal by the gover- nor,” the January document stated. According to the arrest warrant affidavit, DeFillipo’s claimed residences in 2022 at the Bayview Point South apartment complex and at his mother’s home are in precinct 124 in North Miami Beach, but he voted in precinct 115 under his old address. The two precincts’ ballots had key differences. For instance, be- cause DeFillipo used the wrong address, his ballot included a state senate race that he was ineligible to vote on, the affidavit alleges. DeFillipo has claimed he’s in the business of reselling investment properties and that the work calls for him to spend time at homes across South Florida. “This is my livelihood. It’s what I live from... I buy, sell, and invest,” the mayor said at a December 2022 commission meeting, during which the issue of his residency came up. | RIPTIDE | GET MORE NEWS & COMMENTARY AT MIAMINEWTIMES.COM/NEWS Anthony DeFillipo was elected as mayor of North Miami Beach in 2018. Photo courtesy of City of North Miami Beach via Facebook ▼ MIAMI JOLTED JOE CAROLLO LOSES ABUSE-OF-POWER CASE, ORDERED TO PAY $63 MILLION IN DAMAGES. BY ALEX DELUCA F ollowing a nearly two-month civil trial, Miami city commissioner Joe Carollo has been ordered to cough up more than $60 million in damages for harassing and violating the civil rights of two Little Havana business owners. On June 1, a Broward County jury reached a verdict in favor of Ball & Chain owner Bill Fuller and his business partner Martin Pinilla, finding that Carollo must pay them $63.5 million in com- pensatory and punitive damages stemming from a 2018 federal lawsuit in which they accused the commissioner of vengefully directing municipal employees to target the duo’s businesses over a personal vendetta. According to WLRN reporter Joshua Cebal- los, Fuller could be seen crying in the courtroom as the verdict was read aloud. Carollo, on the other hand, remained stoic. “It’s about time the corruption was called out,” an emotional Fuller said outside the Broward County courtroom following the verdict. The six-person jury awarded $8.6 million in compensatory damages and $25.7 million in pu- nitive damages to Fuller while granting $7.3 mil- lion in compensatory damages and $21.9 million in punitive damages to Pinilla. Carollo attorneys Mason Pertnoy and Benedict Kuehne released a statement saying their client “will seek to exercise all legal rights available to him, including appellate review. “Unlike the plaintiffs, who seem to have now resorted to disparaging comments about the commissioner and City of Miami employees, the commissioner will continue to serve all citi- zens of District 3 and the City of Miami fairly and equally in protecting health, safety, and quality of life.” In October 2018, Fuller and Pinilla filed a fed- eral lawsuit against Carollo in his personal ca- pacity, accusing the commissioner of mounting a campaign of targeted harassment against them. They claimed Carollo sicced code enforce- ment and city employees on Ball & Chain (a lounge with a storied history in Little Havana), Union Beer Store (a craft beer bar), and San- guich de Miami (an eatery that serves Cuban sandwiches) in retaliation for the plaintiffs’ sup- port of Carollo’s opponent in the 2017 run-off election for city commission. “Carollo’s actions, designed to destroy plain- tiffs’ businesses and reputations, [are] pure po- litical payback — targeting plaintiffs simply because they dared to support Carollo’s oppo- nent in a run-off election, and because they filed an ethics complaint against Carollo,” the lawsuit alleged. The lawsuit stalled in court for three years while Carollo’s attorneys attempted to have the case dismissed, arguing that their client was pro- tected by qualified and legislative immunity — legal principles that shield police and elected officials from liability for their actions on the job. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled against Carollo in February 2022, clearing the way for a trial. Carollo contended that Fuller and Pinilla repeatedly performed work without a permit and that the code violations against them were legitimate. Fuller and Pinilla maintained that they lost multiple business opportunities because of the reputational damage done by Carollo and fear among prospective partners that the city would target them under the commissioner’s direction if they did business with the pair. Ball & Chain, Taquerias El Mexicano, and other businesses tied to Fuller have a separate lawsuit pending against the City of Miami over the al- leged retaliatory scheme. [email protected] THE DEBATE OVER DEFILLIPO’S RESIDENCY HAS SPAWNED DISARRAY ON THE CITY COMMISSION. Commissioner Joe Carollo Photo by Office of Joe Carollo via Facebook
