MIAMI – Suspended Miami City Commissioner Alex Diaz de la Portilla, who was arrested last month on a host of felony corruption charges, did not appear in court Friday for a scheduled hearing.
Instead, his attorney, Ben Kuehne, appeared on his behalf and entered a plea of not guilty.
Diaz de la Portilla faces several corruption charges, including money laundering and criminal conspiracy.
Kuehne requested that his client be tried separately from his co-defendant, attorney William Riley Jr.
The charges lodged against the commissioner and Riley center around a controversial private school and its plan to build a sports complex on public land.
That school is Centner Academy, with campuses in Miami’s Design District and Edgewater neighborhood. It is run by David and Leila Centner.
Authorities alleged that Riley “controlled a bank account in the name of a Delaware-based corporation to launder approximately $245,000 in concealed political contributions made by a management services company” in exchange for permission to build the $10 million athletic complex at Miami’s Biscayne Park.
Riley, 48, worked as a “lobbyist and in-house attorney,” for the Centners, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Local 10 News.
Diaz de la Portilla, 58, sponsored a 2020 resolution directing Miami’s city manager to begin negotiations with the Centners to construct the sports complex at the park, located at 150 NE 19th St., next to Centner’s Edgewater campus.
The commission passed a 2022 resolution sponsored by the commissioner accepting a $10 million donation from Centner to build the facility.
The affidavit states that Riley “sought to channel tens of thousands of dollars in political contributions from the Centners to political committees” controlled by Diaz de la Portilla.
The money, sent in 2020 and 2022, coincided with campaigns by Renier Diaz de la Portilla, the commissioner’s brother, for county commission and judicial posts, respectively, the affidavit states.
The affidavit also lodges allegations that Diaz de la Portilla billed the Centners for pricey stays at the swanky EAST Miami hotel in Brickell.
Authorities charged the pair with, among other things, money laundering, unlawful compensation or reward for official behavior, bribery and criminal conspiracy. They could face decades behind bars if convicted and sentenced to the maximum prison terms.
Both men have denied allegations of wrongdoing, with Diaz de la Portilla calling the charges politically-motivated and Riley’s attorney telling the Associated Press that his client is innocent.
Diaz de la Portilla’s next court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 14.