As Carollo’s federal case drags on, taxpayers are footing the hefty bill

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 hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars to pay for Carollo’s legal expenses.

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. That number doesn’t include what the city is being charged for the trial itself, which began nearly seven weeks ago.

The records, which detail payments 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.

As for how much taxpayers have actually shelled out to this point? It is likely well over a million dollars 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.

Miami City Attorney, Vitoria 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.

He 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.