On the fourth day of trial for ex Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez, prosecutors brought in the defendant's side job boss to try and prove he was struggling financially prior to the alleged corruption he's accused of.
Martinez was arrested in 2022 and charged for unlawful compensation and conspiracy, while serving as commissioner.
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On top of his elected position, Martinez was also an account manager for Centurion Security, where his job was to introduce potential clients to the company for contracts.
Edward Heflin, Martinez’s boss at Centurion, told jurors on Monday that at some point those contracts were not paying. The company and Martinez began struggling financially.
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“With the contracts related to Joe Martinez was there difficulty collecting those contracts?” asked Timothy M. VanderGiesen, a prosecutor for the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
"Not just his. All of them,” responded Heflin.
Prosecutors introduced evidence that show Martinez’s paychecks from Centurion were getting bounced. They believe this led Martinez to use his elected position to seek help in getting a loan from a shopping center owner named Sergio Delgado.
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Last week, Delgado told jurors Martinez called him to "put in a good word" for him with a bank to factor a loan.
At the same time, Delgado was getting thousands of dollars of fines from the county because he was allowing his businesses at the shopping center to illegally park storage containers.
Prosecutors claim Martinez was illegally paid $15,000 in exchange for help to get a loan plus a draft in legislation that would help Delgado park the trailers on his property and avoid getting fined.
Martinez denies all the allegations.
Martinez’s attorneys claim the former commissioner was just doing his job and serving his constituents.
The trial continues Tuesday. It’s unclear if Martinez will take the stand to try and explain to jurors his version of the story.
