Trial date set in criminal corruption case against suspended Miami commissioner

Joanne Haner
·2 min read

The criminal corruption case against suspended Miami Commissioner Alex Díaz de la Portilla is scheduled to go to trial in December.

In a Friday hearing, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Miguel M. de la O set the trial date for Dec. 2.

Díaz de la Portilla was arrested September 14 on corruption charges, including money laundering and bribery. Attorney and lobbyist William “Bill” Riley Jr. was also arrested and charged. They are suspected of laundering $245,000 in political contributions in exchange for the commissioner’s support of a plan to build a sports complex on city land.

Both Díaz de la Portilla and Riley have pleaded not guilty and denied any wrongdoing.

On Friday, Díaz de la Portilla’s attorney, Benedict Kuehne, suggested a December trial date to give time for another round of depositions.

Conversations to set a trial date were previously pushed back due to a change in the Broward State Attorney Harold Pryor’s office, which took over the case after Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle reported a conflict of interest because of her relationship to Riley’s father.

At a June 26 hearing, it was announced that upon the retirement of Assistant State Attorney Janine Louise Rice, Assistant State Attorney Kayla Bramnick will prosecute the case, leading the trial date decision to be postponed to July.

In May, law enforcement began investigating possible witness tampering by Díaz de la Portilla. After interactions with his former chief of staff, Karla Fortuny, came to light, prosecutors in the Broward State Attorney’s Office argued in a May 23 motion that Díaz de la Portilla should be prohibited from contacting any state witnesses as a condition of his pretrial release.

The judge approved the motion June 1, limiting Díaz de la Portilla to conversations with his brother and government employees about matters unrelated to the criminal case.

Kuehne previously called the investigation “outrageous.” In a previous text message to the Herald, Díaz de la Portilla also denied the claims, saying “The only tampering is the State’s tampering.”