Man shows up to Miami commission meeting to serve Joe Carollo with legal papers

MIAMI – A speaker approached the podium at Miami City Hall for Thursday’s commission meeting and addressed one member in particular: Joe Carollo. He wasn’t there to comment on an agenda item; instead, he let Carollo know that he was there to serve him with legal papers.

It’s the latest development in a series of legal woes for the longtime elected official, who was present and on the dais Thursday.

The process server, Jose Mejia, was there to serve Carollo with a summons for a legal complaint from two plaintiffs seeking to remove him from office.

Those plaintiffs are businessmen Bill Fuller and Martin Pinilla, who won a $63.5 million lawsuit against the commissioner after a federal civil jury found he used his office to violate their rights after they supported Carollo’s political rival.

“I have a summons, a complaint for you to have you removed from office, providing the city chair, you can accept service,” Mejia said at Thursday’s meeting, before Commission Chair Christine King interrupted him.

“Sir, please step away from the podium,” King told him. “If you are here to do a service process, please do that, step to the side.”

In the complaint, filed in mid-January, Fuller and Pinilla — owners of the popular Ball & Chain nightclub — argue Carollo “forfeited his right to office.”

The suit cites Miami’s “Citizens’ Bill of Rights” under its city charter. Fuller and Pinilla noted that it states the city “shall not interfere with the rights…of freedom of speech” and that any “public official, or employee who is found by the court to have willfully violated this section shall forthwith forfeit his or her office or employment.”

The businessmen’s attorney, Jeff Gutchess, told Local 10 News that the decision to serve Carollo with legal papers during a commission meeting came after multiple failed attempts, rendering them unable to continue with legal proceedings. Gutchess said Carollo has been trying to “evade” the process.

In a statement after the lawsuit was filed, Miami City Attorney Victoria Mendez called it, in part, “yet another effort by plaintiffs in that case to harass sitting Commissioner Carollo and force the City of Miami to continue spending tax payer funds unnecessarily to defend itself against the plaintiffs’ unlimited resources and serial lawsuits.”

It comes nearly a week after another recent development in the ongoing legal saga. U.S. Marshals showed up to his Coconut Grove home to begin the seizure process as Fuller and Pinilla attempt to recoup a portion of that verdict.

Carollo has consistently lampooned the plaintiffs, the verdict and the legal process, calling himself a “hostage”, comparing Fuller and Pinilla to mobster Al Capone and proclaiming that they “have a right to some of my underwear.”

He’s maintained he’s done nothing wrong.

This is a developing story. Stay with Local 10 News and Local10.com for updates.