FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Joe Carollo’s federal civil trial may be on pause until May 30, but his legal bills continue to pile up.
The City of Miami Commissioner is fighting a lawsuit filed in 2018 that claims he used code compliance to target Little Havana business owners and, thus far, Miami taxpayers have handed over nearly $2 million to pay for Carollo’s legal expenses.
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On Friday, the City of Miami sent Local 10 News records of legal payments made in the case so far that add up to nearly $712,000.
The records, which detail work done from February 2019 through March 2023, are invoices from the firms Marrero and Wydler, Kuehne Davis Law, and Buchanan, Ingersoll, and Rooney. They do not, however, include payments to several other firms, including Shutts and Bowen, Krinzman, Huss, and Lubetsky, and Cole, Scott, and Kissane, all of which have attorneys actively representing Carollo in court.
In fact, when reached on Saturday, Miami City Attorney Victoria Mendez confirmed the amount spent on his legal defense so far is actually $1,934,743.38, and will only climb higher as the trial drags on.
The lawsuit, which was filed by Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla, alleges Carollo used code compliance and other city departments to harass them and their companies because they supported his political opponent, Alfie Leon, in 2017.
Mendez maintains Carollo is being sued for doing his job as a public official and, thus, his legal representation is being covered by the taxpayers, instead of Carollo himself.
“The Florida Supreme Court has made it very clear that public officials are entitled to legal representation at public expense to defend themselves against litigation arising from the performance of their official duties while serving a public purpose,” she said over text Saturday.
“Moreover, we are in this predicament because of unscrupulous business owners who think they can do whatever they want in contravention of city codes and ordinances,” said Mendez. “They think by filing lawsuits they can bully elected officials and public servants into bending at their will.”
Carollo is being represented in court by a team of high-powered attorneys including Benedict Kuehne, Mason Pertnoy, Amber Dawson, and former commissioner Marc Sarnoff, all of whom were in hot water with District Court Judge Rodney Smith Wednesday.
Smith sternly reprimanded them over a photo that was included as part of a sealed document admitted to the court.
The photo, which showed a member of the media speaking to an attorney representing Fuller and Pinilla, had the judge using words like “reprehensible, “disrespectful,” and reminding the defense team of the penalty of possible prison time.
Taking photos inside a federal courtroom is strictly prohibited.
The trial finished its sixth week of testimony last week and will restart on May 30.