The arrest last month of Sweetwater Mayor Manny “Maraña” Maroño on federal bribery and extortion charges left the city shocked (a little), embarrassed (a lot) and one commissioner short after Jose Diaz became acting mayor when the governor suspended Maroño. The decision was slated to be made Monday night, but because Commissioner Manuel Duasso was missing […]
Another day, another local mayor arrested: Homestead Mayor Steve Bateman was taken into custody Wednesday on charges of taking unlawful compensation. That’s police code for bribes and kickbacks and, in this case, taking secret jobs to use your political influence on other government officials. The mayor has been under investigation for a multitude of things […]
Look like it’s going to be a busy week in the 305 for political intrigue, what with a caliente county commission meeting, the arraignments of two allegedly corrupt elected leaders, a hearing for a Hialeah boletero and the qualifying deadlines for the suddenly open seats in Miami Lakes due to the mayor’s arrest. Ladra expects […]
Don’t they say that it’s always the cover-up that gets you? Of the two local mayors that went down a couple of weeks ago in an FBI sting that nabbed them on charges of bribery and extortion, the best case seems to be the one against suspended Sweetwater Mayor Manny “Maraña” Maroño. We have all long […]
The Florida League of Cities annual conference in Orlando this week has got to be an interesting place. Remember, this is the same event at which, last year, then-League President and then-Sweetwater Mayor Manny Maroño was going around introducing his political bigwig buddies to two businessmen that could help them graft thousands of dollars from the […]
The federal kick-back sting that led to the arrest this week of two Miami-Dade mayors and two of our local lobbyists also sheds light on some stark differences between two council members in Miami Lakes. The feds call them Councilmember A and Councilmember B in the affidavit that supported the arrest of Miami Lakes Mayor […]
You mean, there were only two? That’s one of the questions I am left with after Tuesday’s big news that Sweetwater Mayor Manny Maroño and Miami Lakes Mayor Michael “Muscles” Pizzi were arrested on federal bribery and extortion charges. Ladra is not too surprised that these two mayors — both of whom have been accused of abusing their power in […]