FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Testimony continued in the federal civil trial of Joe Carollo Wednesday.
The Miami city commissioner is being sued by Little Havana businessmen Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla, who allege he abused his power, harassing them and their companies and properties, all because they supported his political opponent in 2017.
But, on the stand Wednesday, Fuller said that harassment carried well beyond his business interests, and into their philanthropic work.
Fuller was on the board of Viernes Culturales, a nonprofit that, on the last Friday of each month, would put on a festival at Domino Park Plaza.
He says for years, they never needed a permit for the event, until Carollo was elected.
But, when they went to apply for that permit, they learned Carollo himself had booked every last Friday of the month through the next year, naming his event “Viernes Pequeña Habana.”
On the stand, Fuller said, “I remember the day I was honored to join that board and now 14 years later I was the reason it had been destroyed. It had nothing to do with building inspections or code, it was a board, a non-profit board.”
“He did it to destroy my reputation, my goodwill with the board, it was evil,” Fuller added.
Fuller will be the final plaintiff’s witness, then it’ll be Carollo’s team’s turn to begin calling their witnesses.
The lawsuit asks for millions of dollars plus punitive damages.