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City official quits amid corruption probe

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 9, 2006

WEST PALM BEACH - A city commissioner has resigned amid a federal corruption investigation involving his alleged use of official power to pressure two business owners to sell at prices below market values.

Ray Liberti, 59, who also served seven terms in the state Legislature, is charged with mail fraud and obstruction of justice for allegedly making false health code and other complaints about the two businesses - a massage parlor and a nightclub - and accepting $66,000 in cash and gifts from prospective buyers to apply pressure.

Court documents show that in one case, Liberti identified himself as a reporter for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in a telephone conversation with one business owner and threatened to write negative stories about the business.

"When a public official corruptly misuses his office and his power for private gain, he breaches the public trust and weakens public confidence in our government institutions," U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta said Monday.

Liberti issued a statement saying he is resigning from the City Commission effective Monday and apologizing for what he called "a serious mistake in judgment."

Liberti served in the state House from 1978 until 1992, then worked for Florida Atlantic University and the state Department of Children and Families. He was elected to the West Palm Beach commission in 2003 and re-elected in 2005.

[Last modified May 9, 2006, 00:41:15]