Former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Joe Martinez was sentenced Monday to nearly three years in prison.
This comes after a jury last year convicted Martinez of unlawful compensation for accepting a $15,000 bribe from a local business owner to pass legislation that would benefit them. The legislation never made it to a vote.
Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Miguel De la O, who sentenced Martinez, said he wanted to give a shorter sentence in light of Martinez’s decades-long experience in government and law enforcement.
Martinez's lawyers had asked the court to grant him a reduced sentence of three years probation, house arrest for one year, as well as 150 hours of community service and a mandatory public officials ethics program.
But mandatory sentencing guidelines say Martinez must receive at least a 34-month sentence.
Judge De la O, however, said he will allow Martinez to remain free while the former commissioner appeals the jury’s verdict. Martinez maintains his innocence and denies the allegations against him. His appeal could take at least a year.
Removed from office
After a 17-year police career, Martinez was elected to the commission in 2000. He gave up the seat in 2012 for an unsuccessful run for county mayor, then failed in a 2014 Republican campaign for Congress. He was elected to rejoin the commission in 2016 and reelected in 2020.
Martinez was charged in 2022 with unlawful compensation and conspiracy to commit unlawful compensation in a case involving payments from a business owner facing code violations, according to authorities. He was removed from office by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Investigators said Martinez accepted $15,000 from a supermarket owner who was facing repeated fines for having too many storage units on the property. In exchange for the money, authorities said Martinez pushed legislation that would allow the supermarket and its landlord to legally have their storage containers.
READ MORE: Corruption sentencing postponed for ex-Commissioner Joe Martinez as judge signals leniency
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