A federal judge is recommending that Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo's city salary should no longer be garnished to pay off a $63.5 million court judgment against him.
In a court document filed Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lauren F. Louis recommended Carollo's motion to end the garnishment of his wages be granted.
Carollo was found liable in June of 2023 in a federal civil lawsuit brought by two businessmen who accused him of trying to destroy their businesses as political retaliation.
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Bill Fuller, the owner of the Ball and Chain restaurant and club in Little Havana, and fellow businessman Martin Pinilla claimed Carollo weaponized the city’s police and code enforcement departments to shut down several of their businesses in Little Havana because they supported his political opponent.
The jury found Carollo violated the plaintiffs' First Amendment rights and awarded them more than $63 million.
Carollo's salary had been ordered garnished back in November to begin paying off the judgment, but Carollo later filed a claim of exemption, saying he is the head of his household and provides support for his wife, Marjorie, and that under Florida statute, his wages shouldn't be garnished.
A series of hearings were held in July and earlier this month, where attorneys for Fuller and Pinilla argued that bank records showed Carollo hadn't been the head of his family in the first half of 2023, before the case wrapped up and the judgment was handed down.
But in her filing, Louis said even assuming Carollo had changed his status as head of household, "nothing in the Florida Statutes prevents a debtor from becoming a head of family for the purpose of avoiding garnishment."
Attorneys for Carollo released a statement Thursday regarding the filing.
"Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo and his family are vindicated by the federal court validation of his exemption as the head of his family because he supports his wife and his household with his City salary. With this favorable ruling, Commissioner Carollo has protected the head-of-family exemption to garnishment," the statement read, in part. "Commissioner Carollo continues to proudly serve the residents of the City of Miami and his District and will work tirelessly to protect the health, safety, and welfare of all residents and businesses."
Attorneys for Fuller and Pinilla released their own statement Thursday.
"When the jury issued its $63 million verdict, and we filed our motion for a Writ of Garnishment the following week, the Carollos' income and spending habits changed dramatically, with Joe Carollo beginning to pay the expenses, depleting all the funds in his accounts, and Mrs. Carollo testified that she ceased working for money at that point, expressly due to the trial and verdict," the statement read, in part. "We do not believe the law allows a judgment debtor to manipulate the family income or spending habits in that manner to defeat a Writ of Garnishment. We understand and respect Magistrate Judge Louis’s decision, and especially the time and effort she put into this matter, but we do believe the right thing to do in these circumstances is to object to the Report and Recommendation and to seek additional evidence."
The plaintiffs can file written objections to Louis' filing within 14 days.
Last month, Louis issued another court filing favorable to Carollo when she said he should get to claim his Coconut Grove home as exempt from the massive court judgment.
Carollo has denied any wrongdoing, and has appealed the $63.5 million judgment.
