On May 3, 2023 we reported that an arrest might be in the works in North Miami Beach.
What we didn’t reveal is that an investigation ensued after we sent an email to Interim City Manager Mark Antonio advising him of our discovery that 124 of the Publix gift cards used for ex-Criminal Commissioner Paule Villard’s taxpayer-funded campaign stunt, were unaccounted for. The gift cards were purchased with Federal funds the City received under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), and the missing cards were worth a total of $18,500.00.
This afternoon the North Miami Beach Police Department issued this Press Release:
At 3:16 PM today, the Police Department tweeted:
@myNMBPolice has made an arrest pertaining to an investigation regarding the theft of Publix gift cards, which were purchased by the City of North Miami Beach to give away to its residents. Attached is the official press release and the arrest affidavit. Thank you. pic.twitter.com/0IoSxQb7Hc
— North Miami Beach PD (@myNMBPolice) May 18, 2023
According to her LinkedIn page, Jennifer “Jen” Hillmon of Tamarac started her “full-time” position as the Public Affairs Assistant in the City of North Miami Beach in September of 2022, which means she was hired by none other than ex-City Manager Arthur “Duke” Sorey.
In fact, she was so proud of her job, she posted this photo on her page.
“Great leaders.”
As with the majority of Duke Sorey’s hires, it appears that no background check was conducted on this employee. Although we could not locate any prior arrests in either Broward or Miami-Dade County, sources tell us she has a felony arrest record.
We are not surprised.
UPDATE:
On May 10, 2016, Jennifer Hillmon was arrested by the Delray Beach Police Department in Palm Beach County on charges of Grand Theft.
Here is a screenshot of the Probable Cause Statement from the arrest report:
Alrighty then.
In any event, this is the first of what we hope will be many, many perp walks to come.
Stephanie
Please Steph, please tell me this is not a “take one for the team” arrest.
Duke: “Do the time and we will take care of your family and get the media off my back”.
And I hope the cops are not in on the coverup.
Maybe I watch too much Godfather stuff when Frank Pentangeli sacrificed himself for his family.
I can’t answer any of your questions, but according to the arrest report she was caught red handed. There are still over 100 gift cards in the wind, so hopefully there will be more arrests.
Are the names under the picture in the incorrect order? Which one is the arrestee? OMG!
Others should be shaking in their boots!
We can only hope.
I meant to say “in incorrect order”?
Yes they are.
Congratulations, Stephanie, et al. Another scalp attributable to you. First you overturn the majority on the commission and now this. A big, fat Good Karma At ‘Cha.
Thank you, but I did not “overturn the majority on the commission.” The voters of North Miami Beach deserve all the credit! I just gave them all the information that I could to enable them to vote responsibly.
Wait a minute… how did this person steal Publix gift cards under the NEW city manager?
Someone has some esplaining to do…
I believe they were stolen under the former city manager, Stephanie worked with the new Interim CM to try to locate the missing cards that were supposedly with Sorey.
They were stolen long before the new manager was hired.
The police report says, “The defendant is captures via public instore video surveillance using a total of eight (8) different gift cards from March 24, 2023 to May 2, 2023.”
Sorey was fired before these purchases on March 22, 2023.
Esplain why the first order to business by the city manager was to not lock everything down if there were thieves and people with P-card willing to spend however?
She must have been holding on the cards, and using them sparingly so as not to bring attention to herself. If Publix hadn’t been alerted to the missing gift cards, the thief or thieves would never have gotten caught. Don’t forget, there were over 1,500 cards out there and once they were given out, they could have been used by anyone. What the thief or thieves didn’t count on is that Publix keeps a record of each card via serial number, and can determine exactly which ones were already used, and how much of the card was spent, as well as exactly when and where each card was used. (It’s the ultimate Big Brother thing LOL!)
Apparently Publix investigated upon the City’s request, and found that 92 were still unused, and many other cards were only partially used. Publix canceled all unused amounts on outstanding cards and will be (or already has) refunding the City approximately $18,000. This employee only took 8 cards, but she actually used them so she got caught. These 8 cards are not included in the 92 that were never used at all. If the perpetrators who took those cards don’t try to cash them in, they won’t get caught now. But at least the City will be refunded for the cards that were not used.
Very sad. I really liked Jennifer and would never believed she would be party to theft. Live and Learn.
I never heard of her or knew anything about her until today. I’m told she is very well liked by many. This just goes to show you that anybody is capable of doing stupid things. That’s why it’s so important to avoid committing crimes if at all possible. Resist the temptation!
How did she get charged with grand theft and still get a city job?
You’d have to ask Duke Sorey why he didn’t conduct a background check on her, or any of his other Friends & Family hires. For two years he ran your City like a frat house full of spoiled, entitled children who ran amok with no supervision and absolutely no sense of responsibility. There were no adults in his administration, and the four Commissioners who hired him didn’t know any better as long as they got their “free” healthcare, taxpayer-funded vacations, food orgies, self-promoting parties, unfettered spending on a City credit card, and absolutely no concern for the taxpaying residents who funded their debauchery. It was a complete disgrace.
I am so sad to learn that Jen stole the gift cards. I recently met her at a city event and had a long talk about event planning, marketing & communications and how different working in government is vs. private sector. She struck me as an earnest person involved in her work and happy to be working for NMB.
I’m beginning to think I’m not such a good judge of character, since I also met McKenzie and voted for him!
I can’t speak about Jennifer, since I never met her and I never even heard her name until the arrest.
I can speak about McKenzie, however, and he’s been on my radar for many, many years, and not in a good way. I remember telling Barbara Kramer when he first ran against Marlen Martell in 2011. I knew he was a fraud then, and my suspicions have only been confirmed since he got himself elected in 2018. Barbara didn’t agree with me 12 years ago, but she finally understands why I didn’t trust him. He’s a pathological liar, and the whopper he told at last Tuesday night’s commission meeting proves it.
Second Arrest Made in NMB Gift Card Thefts
The City of North Miami Beach….”Where Shopping is a Pleasure”
In every other city, prospective employees are given a level 2 fingerprint-based background check which reveals all arrests in the United States. It’s incomprehensible that Hillmon was previously arrested for grand theft and NMB didn’t know about it. Also, am I the only one who noticed that Hillmon was dressing and presenting as a man?
Obviously no background check was done on Hillmon. I also discovered that she violated her probation by not paying the required fees. NMB officials would have known that, too, if a background check had been conducted.
I’m not sure what you mean by “presenting as a man,” but I don’t think her attire is an issue. She looks professionally dressed to me, but it still didn’t stop her from stealing taxpayer money. Public corruption is unacceptable.