Three years ago when North Miami Senior High School’s Adult Education Center principal, Jean Coty Ridore, was arrested for unlawful compensation, official misconduct, and grand theft third degree, State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle took credit for this “multi-agency law enforcement effort.”
She told the Miami Herald, “These are the kinds of bribery cases by public officials that really outrage every single member of the community.”
Ridore was busted by an undercover officer in the state attorney’s public corruption unit during a sting operation in which Ridore demanded a $1,000.00 fee to “hire” the officer as a school handyman, without actually requiring him to show up for work. In exchange, Ridore would receive half his salary. Both Ridore and the handyman would illegally receive half of a public salary of a “ghost employee” that neither of them actually earned.
Yesterday, the Miami Herald reported that Ridore was sentenced to six years in prison for corruption, a sentenced that surprised even the prosecutors, who asked for a five year sentence.
According to the Herald, “Ridore initially accepted a plea deal for one year in prison — but Judge Blumstein rejected the deal. Months later, prosecutors offered him 9 months in jail, which Ridore rejected.”
We bet that 9 month offer he turned down is looking real good right about now, huh?
Katherine Fernandez Rundle may have finally gotten tough on crime when she vigorously prosecuted the wayward principal, but that certainly wasn’t the case when ex-North Miami Beach Mayor Myron Rosner was facing similar felony charges.
It took nearly a year and a half for her to issue an arrest warrant after Miami-Dade County Commission on Ethics (COE) Investigators Breno Penichet and Kennedy Rosario began their investigation of Myron for “activities that could be construed as violations of both Florida State statues and the Miami-Dade County Conflict of Interest Ordinance,” according to their September 20, 2012 Report of Investigation.
Despite the overwhelming evidence presented to Rundle by the COE Investigators, she initially refused to arrest him until they, along with Miami-Dade Police Department Public Corruption Investigations Bureau (MDPD PCIB) Detective Luis Rodriguez, appealed to the Florida Supreme Court, which designated Chief Judge Peter Wienstein of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit Court (Broward County) to review his arrest warrant on four felonies and five misdemeanors, including grand theft third degree.
In other words, despite his blatant crimes, because Myron was married to the now-former Circuit Court Judge Sarah Zabel, Kathy was more than willing to let Myron slide until her back was against the wall.
While Jean Ridore was sentenced to six years in prison for committing four felonies, including unlawful compensation, official misconduct, and grand theft third degree …
… Myron Rosner received a sentence of three years’ probation for committing four felonies, including unlawful compensation, official misconduct, and grand theft third degree.
Seems legit, eh?
In Ridore’s case, the State Attorney convinced a jury to convict him on all four felony counts.
In Rosner’s case, she cut a deal, dropping all but one of the felony charges in exchange for a guilty plea on unlawful compensation.
While the inequality of the sentencing is shocking, it’s hardly surprising.
Jean Ridore’s crime is indeed heinous. He abused his public position and was unlawfully compensated by stealing from the public school system.
Myron Rosner also abused his public position and was unlawfully compensated by stealing from a city vendor.
Yet, for incomprehensible reasons, Ridore, a black Haitian-American, who probably couldn’t afford Ben Kuehne and is not married to a Circuit Court Judge, will spend the next six years eating yummy prison food … followed by two years of house arrest … followed by seven years of probation.
While Myron, a white Canadian-American, who hired Ben Kuehne and who is married to (the now former) Circuit Court Judge Sarah Zabel, served no prison time or house arrest … was sentenced to only three years of probation … committed four more felonies while doing so … and is still out on bond a free man!
Funny how that works.
Katherine Fernandez Rundle may have convinced herself that there are perfectly justifiable reasons for the disparity in justice.
We’d love to hear them.
In the meantime, we can only conclude that the real reason is because …
Myron is from Canada.
Stephanie
Sounds kind of like the deal Jeffrey Epstein and Alex Acosta made that we just read about for 3 days in the Miami Herald. Sorry this stuff stinks, and there is no equal justice when you look at your example and what the Herald just ran.The rich and well connected get all the breaks and mock the system. Excuse me while I go puke.
The reason why Rosner got such a sweetheart deal was due to the fact that his campaign manager was Al Lorenzo, the same sinister character who was running both Katherine Fernandez Rundle and Carlos Gimenez’s 2012 campaigns. You may remember how Lorenzo’s campaign office became a hotbed for absentee ballot fraud. No law enforcement agency (FDLE nor the FBI) bothered to do anything about it though they were presented all of the evidence to make a good case. The most corrupt official in this county is Fernandez Rundle, followed closely by her COE lap dog Jose Arrojo and the cast of characters that makes this area a banana republic. Shame on FDLE and the FBI for allowing corruption to run amok in this county.