Trump codefendant and Mar-a-Lago manager pleads not guilty in classified documents case

FORT PIERCE — One day after a grand jury in Georgia indicted Donald Trump for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election, his co-defendant in the classified documents case pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira is accused of helping Trump conceal boxes of classified documents from investigators after the former president left office. A grand jury indicted De Oliveira last month on four counts, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and making a false statement.

Tuesday's hearing was De Oliveira's third scheduled appearance in federal court but the first he attended with an attorney licensed to practice in the South Florida federal district. West Palm Beach attorney Donnie Murrell Jr. joined his legal team last week, paving the way for his arraignment. The hearing lasted five minutes.

De Oliveira's plea comes less than 24 hours after a grand jury in Georgia indicted Trump on felony racketeering and conspiracy charges related to the 2020 election. The indictment accuses Trump and more than a dozen others of conspiring to pressure state election officials to award Georgia to the then-president despite Joe Biden's victory.

Trump faces 13 felony charges in this latest indictment, bringing the total charges against him across four separate indictments to 91.

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Trump, who faces 40 counts in the classified documents case, and his aide Walt Nauta, who faces eight, pleaded not guilty to the charges one week before De Oliveira did. Prosecutors say the former president mishandled dozens of classified documents that he took from the White House and schemed with members of his staff to hide them from investigators.

FBI agents seized boxes of classified documents containing military and intelligence secrets during a search of Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, 2022, more than a year and a half after Trump left office.

The indictment, updated in July to name De Oliveira as a co-defendant and press additional charges against the former president, says De Oliveira helped Nauta move dozens of boxes while federal investigators searched for them.

Prosecutors say De Oliveira told another member of Trump's staff that “the boss” wanted the server for surveillance cameras purged after investigators issued another subpoena for video of the Palm Beach estate. The staffer refused.

In an interview with the FBI on Jan. 13, De Oliveira denied helping unload or move boxes for Trump. His Washington D.C.-based attorney, John Irving, did not attend the arraignment Tuesday.

Unlike Trump, Mar-a-Lago manager keeps a low profile

Aside from the sudden national attention on De Oliveira, the 56-year-old Palm Beach Gardens resident keeps a low profile.

He worked as a valet at Mar-a-Lago until January 2022, when he became the property manager of Trump's resort. Other than dismissed eviction notices and traffic citations, De Oliveira's name doesn't appear in Palm Beach County court records. He doesn't have any publicly active social media accounts, either.

Online records show that De Oliveira, a registered Republican, lived in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in the 1990s before moving to Palm Beach County.

He currently lives in a three-bedroom townhouse in Palm Beach Gardens owned by landlord Tiberio Almeida, who has spoken to multiple news outlets and said he has been friends with De Oliveira for more than 30 years. Almeida purchased this property in 2003, and it currently has a Zillow market value estimate at $400,000. Almeida did not return calls from The Palm Beach Post.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon tentatively scheduled the classified documents trial to begin May 20 despite a push by Trump's attorneys to delay it until after the presidential election. Trump has said he will continue his bid for reelection if convicted.

Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump news: Codefendant pleads not guilty in classified documents case