The lobbyist for Miami-Dade schools is arrested for possession of crack cocaine. He now is undergoing rehabilitation for addiction.
By Associated Press
Published October 29, 2003
MIAMI - An influential Miami lobbyist is undergoing drug treatment after being charged with possession of crack cocaine, his attorney said.
Miami police say they frisked Eric "Rick" Sisser, 57, after he was stopped while driving with a "known drug dealer" last month and found four bags of "rock cocaine" and "a homemade glass pipe" used to smoke the drug.
Sisser's attorney, Edward Shohat, said Monday his client is undergoing drug rehabilitation. He called Sisser's Oct. 7 innocent plea a "formality," and said he hoped to have charges dropped following the treatment.
Miami police said they arrested Sisser after watching him behave suspiciously while parked in the city's Coconut Grove section. A police officer identified Sisser's passenger as "a known drug dealer in the area." The man told the officer he was "supplying drugs."
Police charged Sisser with cocaine possession, a third-degree felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.
"Rick has a problem, and he's dealing with it," Shohat said. "... He has a treatment plan, and we expect to successfully complete that treatment plan."
Sisser collected millions of dollars lobbying for the Miami-Dade County public schools system, bankrolling board members' political campaigns and counseling Pat Tornillo, the former teachers union boss.
Tornillo agreed in August to a two-year prison sentence for charging $650,000 in cruises, first-class vacations and other luxuries to union accounts.
