The fictitious trial date of January 21, 2014 set for the FELONY trial of Ricardo Brutus has come and gone.

In case anyone has forgotten, and for those who still care, Brutus is the nephew/campaign manager of former North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre, who was one of only a handful of mayors outside of Chicago to make national headlines and not get indicted.  Ricardo, of course, became Pierre’s fall guy during the contentious North Miami mayoral race of 2011.

Brutus was first arrested during campaign season in March of 2011 for the FELONY of unlawful compensation (read: accepting a bribe) when he was caught on video in a sting operation accepting cash from local businessman Shlomo Chelminsky to influence a council vote on the privatization of the city’s sanitation department.  His uncle, of course, denied all knowledge of the scheme and got himself re-elected, despite the fact that his campaign manager nephew was arrested again two months later for practicing law without a license, grand theft and organized fraud.

As we all know, Andre Pierre served out his second term unscathed by all the scandals surrounding his re-election and administration, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that, unlike Chicago, we don’t send our dirty politicians to prison.  We turn a blind eye give them the keys to the city.

And a Police badge.

A brief synopsis of Andre Pierre’s storied political career is spelled out in a May 12, 2012 Miami New Times article, as follows:

Here are a few of the scandals to hit North Miami City Hall. Pierre has:

• Used taxpayer money to order 43 fake police badges for use by his three-person staff.

• Called a City Councilman’s daughter a prostitute.

• Driven a $100,000 Porsche on loan from a donor without declaring it as a gift.

• Stiffed the city on $29,000 of field rental fees from 78 games of soccer.

• Presented a seminar on preventing home foreclosure while his own home was in foreclosure.

• Had taxpayers foot the bill for secret cameras to be installed in his office.

• Helped his former business partners work on a bid to build a giant indoor ski slope.

And that was just the baggage he brought from his first term into his second.  Despite the New Times’ plea to Indict North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre in September of 2011, like the Energizer Bunny, Andre just kept on going.  Before he reluctantly relinquished his seat last June, he added even more ethically and legally questionable activities to his resume, doing what he does best – Anything He Wanted.  For Pierre’s Outstanding Achievements in Public Corruption, he won the dubious Person of the Year Award from Island TV.

While Andre left office with his freedom intact and is most likely island hopping as we speak, his nephew is still standing trial for alleged crimes he committed to help keep his uncle in office.  I can’t help but wonder how that’s working out for Ricardo.

According to the latest dockets, Brutus’ trials for unlawful compensation (which has been in the works for over three years now) and his miscellaneous felonies (only two years in the making) are running concurrently, with a trial hearing scheduled for May 27, 2014.  Brutus is being defended by Ben-Kuehne-Wannabe Larry Handfield, who’s no stranger to walking a mile in his clients’ shoes.  Last December, the “prominent Miami criminal defense attorney” pled guilty to filing false tax returns.

Gee, that’s encouraging.

Nevertheless, my Miami-Dade County Criminal Court Crystal Ball predicts that Ricardo Brutus will probably end his criminal trial with a sentence of probation and a slap on the wrist, combined with a token fine for the Court’s trouble.  In any event, I’ll keep you posted with any breaking news.

As a post-script to the Ricardo Brutus saga, the man responsible for his troubles, Shlomo Chelminsky is now in hot water for his starring role as North Miami’s Slumlord King.  He’s now being sued by tenants who were displaced when the roof of one of his buildings collapsed just in time for Christmas.

Maybe Larry Handfield can recommend a good civil defense attorney.

I hear Ben Kuehne might be available.

Stephanie Kienzle
“Spreading the Wealth”