Senator faces criminal charges

A lawyer for the South Florida legislator called the 295 misdemeanors a "political vendetta.''

By LUCY MORGAN

© St. Petersburg Times,
published November 9, 2001

TALLAHASSEE -- In addition to a huge civil fine imposed Wednesday by state elections officials, Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla is facing 295 criminal charges.

Diaz de la Portilla, a Miami Republican, faces arraignment on the misdemeanor charges Nov. 29.

"The charges are another example of the efforts that opponents of good government will go to to try and taint Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla," his attorney, Benedict Kuehne, said Thursday.

Labeling the case part of a "political vendetta," Kuehne said his client will fight the "ridiculous" charges filed Nov. 2 by State Attorney Norman Wolfinger of Melbourne, who was assigned to investigate the allegations.

"It is a ridiculous number of charges," agreed Wolfinger. "I wish he wouldn't have done that many. You can't have fair elections when you fail to report the money that you bring in. He had an obligation under the law; goodness, he writes the law."

Asked about Kuehne's suggestion that the charges are part of a political vendetta, Wolfinger laughed.

Diaz de la Portilla was fined $311,000 by the Florida Elections Commission on Wednesday for violating the state elections law 311 times during his 1999 race for the Senate.

Kuehne said Diaz de la Portilla also will appeal the commission fine.

The senator has never disputed that his initial contribution and expenditure reports contained mistakes, but he contends the mistakes were made by his staff and corrected with amended reports.

"To our knowledge, no one has ever been charged with a misdemeanor after correcting reports," Kuehne said. "Other prominent public officials, including U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, have at some point corrected campaign report mistakes."

Each of the criminal charges carries a maximum one-year jail sentence and $1,000 fine.

The criminal charges track the civil complaint filed against Diaz de la Portilla for his acceptance of a $10,000 cash contribution and his failure to accurately report $144,000 in contributions and $68,000 in expenditures.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright