Ex-commissioner arrested again in corruption inquiry

  BY KARL ROSS AND DAVID GREEN

  In a case one prosecutor called ''an abuse of trust beyond all explanation,'' former Miami-Dade Commissioner Miriam Alonso and her husband, Leonel,
  were arrested Wednesday on new felony corruption charges -- this latest batch stemming from their alleged misuse of $78,000 raised to combat an
  aborted recall campaign.

  The recall effort was started by Miami Lakes community activists, outraged about Alonso's push to expand a nearby landfill. The petition drive was
  terminated in November 1999, but Alonso continued to rake in tens of thousands of dollars in contributions from rock miners, developers, airport
  contractors and others that subsequently became the focal point of this latest criminal case against the Alonsos.

  The Alonsos were arrested previously in April and charged with a number of corruption-related offenses -- including grand theft, money laundering and
  exploitation of public office. Most of those charges were related to an alleged scheme to pilfer $54,000 from Alonso's 1998 reelection campaign account.

  On Wednesday -- the former commissioner's 61st birthday -- the Alonsos were charged with participating in an ''organized scheme to defraud,'' grand
  theft, evidence tampering, conspiracy to tamper with or fabricate evidence and solicitation to commit perjury in official proceedings. Miriam Alonso was
  also charged with exploiting her official position. Money laundering charges against the couple are likely to be added, prosecutors said.

  WRONGDOING DENIED

  The Alonsos' attorney, José Quiñon, says they deny any wrongdoing.

  At a press conference Wednesday, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle denounced the Alonsos' conduct as especially crass.

  ''The new charges against Miriam Alonso come from her creation of a political slush fund that was then used for her and her husband's private benefit,''
  Fernández Rundle said. ``It represents gross misuse of public authority and an abuse of trust beyond all explanation.''

  Fernández Rundle said $78,000 of the $88,100 raised to fight the Miami Lakes recall was diverted from a bank account used for the recall proceeds. Most
  of those funds were later pocketed by the couple, she said, after being laundered through third parties and front companies used to disguise ''bogus''
  recall expenditures.

  At the epicenter of the alleged scheme was Alonso's former chief of staff, Elba Morales, who cut a deal with authorities in July and whom Fernandez
  Rundle described as ''a big key'' to any subsequent prosecution.

  Quiñon, the Alonsos' attorney, complained about police tactics, saying Wednesday's arrests were purposefully degrading. The couple surrendered at
  10:30 a.m. at the Doral police headquarters, where they were greeted by a throng of reporters. Notably agitated, Leonel Alonso was seen complaining
  to one arresting officer.

  ''It seems as if they're staggering their arrests instead of getting it done period,'' Quiñon said. ``The whole process has become abusive. Our whole
  defense was taken away during the search of their house. Then there were the leaks to the press. It's an abuse of the process, and you see where the
  rights of the Alonsos have been trampled.''

  RUSHED TO HOSPITAL

  About 11 a.m., Leonel Alonso, 70, complained to police of chest pains and was rushed by ambulance to Baptist Hospital in Kendall. A hospital
  spokeswoman said it does not appear Leonel, who has a history of heart illness, suffered a heart attack.

  Leonel was released about 7 p.m. and shuttled to the Turner Guilford Knight Corrections Center for processing.

  A corrections spokeswoman said both Alonsos would spend the night in jail, before a bond hearing was set for today.

  Attorney Michael Pizzi, one of the Miami Lakes activists credited in police documents with sparking the recall inquiry, called the arrests a ''vindication'' for
  the residents who attempted to unseat Alonso, then at the pinnacle of her power, for backing the Peerless Dade landfill expansion.

  Miami-Dade Inspector General Christopher Mazzella praised investigators, holding up a copy of the 47-page arrest affidavit at Wednesday's news
  conference as an example to law enforcement and a warning to dishonest officials.

  ''The arrest warrant that was filed today could be a syllabus for a course titled Public Corruption 101,'' Mazzella said. ``It describes the very essence of
  corruption -- greed, thievery and contempt, contempt for the system they were supposed to represent.''

  The supporting affidavit was prepared by Miami-Dade police Detective Antonio Rodríguez and John Kennedy, a special agent with the inspector general's
  office.

  MONEY TRAIL

  The document maps out the money trail investigators followed while developing their case against the Alonsos. It includes the names of several
  high-profile attorneys and Spanish radio personalities who, while doing nothing improper themselves, received what prosecutors say were illegally
  diverted recall funds.

  Investigators found the following:

  • Former U.S. Attorney Kendall Coffey received $3,000 in recall funds for unrelated work he previously did for the Alonsos.

  • Attorney Benedict Kuehne got $5,000 for filing a lawsuit, allegedly at Miriam Alonso's behest, intended to derail the candidacy of a Sweetwater city
  council candidate.

  • Attorney Rick Diaz was later paid $2,500 for representing former Alonso aide Benito Filomia, the plaintiff in the Sweetwater lawsuit.

  • Radio talk-show host Marta Flores received $3,000 for political consulting work she purportedly did for Alonso prior to the recall.

  • Matías Farías, another radio personality, received $1,000 for political consulting, though he told authorities he never expected payment and kept the
  money only to avoid offending Leonel Alonso.

  The vast remainder of the recall funds, according to police documents, were handled by Morales, who recruited visitors to her Miami Beach condominium
  to cash $35,000 in checks from the recall account -- the proceeds allegedly returned to the Alonsos.

  Morales also allegedly helped the Alonsos fabricate thousands more in phony invoices for catering, liquor sales and a night club rental to conceal other
  illegally diverted recall proceeds.

  When the investigation became public knowledge, those involved in the alleged scheme, some unwittingly, were instructed by the Alonsos to lie to
  investigators and tell them they were paid for work done in connection with the recall, according to police documents.

  The documents say one of those who initially misled authorities was former community council member Agustín ''Gus'' Exposito, who resigned earlier this
  year after an ethics complaint was filed against him.

  Leonel Alonso allegedly told Exposito to ''stick to his guns'' by claiming to have done work on the recall fight in return for $3,000.

  But authorities said Exposito and others implicated in the scheme recanted their testimony and agreed to cooperate with police after Morales cut a deal
  with prosecutors.