A six-year legal battle waged by a pair of Little Havana businessmen to acquire Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo’s assets came a step closer to fruition this week, when a federal judge said the duo could begin collecting on the $63.5 million verdict a jury awarded them last summer.
Jurors in federal civil court found that the city’s longest-serving elected leader targeted Little Havana businessmen William “Bill” Fuller and Martin Pinilla for financial and personal ruin, and awarded the men the staggering sum. It’s an amount that Carollo almost certainly can’t make whole. But that’s not the point, Fuller said.
“All of his accounts are going to be subject to seizure. He’s going to have to understand, he’s going to feel for the first time this is serious and the damage he created, he’s on the hook for,” Fuller said.
Carollo, calling himself a man of modest means with little to no income outside his $58,000 yearly city salary, replied to the judge’s order in the macabre.
“Which arm would they like to take blood from?” he asked. “What wall would they like me to stand in front of so they can bring the firing squad?”
Carollo’s attorney Ben Kuehne said they’ll argue the commissioner’s home is protected under Florida law and that there are motions pending to protect the garnishment of Carollo’s wages, which began in December. Carollo doesn’t own any other local property, according to Miami-Dade County property records.
His attorneys plan to petition Atlanta’s 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the verdict. That attempt has been stalled by motions still pending before the court from last year’s verdict.
“We maintain that the decision and judgment are wrong and subject to reversal on appeal,” Kuehne said. The attorney also said the seizure of Carollo’s assets should be put on hold “until the appeal is finally resolved.”
Fuller and Pinilla, two of the largest property owners in Little Havana, filed a lawsuit in 2018 claiming the commissioner abused their First Amendment rights by “weaponizing” city resources to target their reputations and several of their businesses along one of the city’s busiest tourist corridors.
They claimed he made the decision to try and ruin them after they publicly supported Carollo’s political opponent for a commission seat. On June 1, a jury agreed and awarded the two businessmen $63.5 million for the commissioner’s actions.
Despite the court order, collecting Carollo’s assets is sure to be difficult. Just calculating the commissioner’s net worth is a dubious task. The process certainly will be lengthy and complicated. Collecting the commissioner’s assets would not only involve more court hearings, but also U.S. Marshals and the Miami-Dade County Sheriff’s Office, which would help seize property.
It’s also not clear if the total of Carollo’s assets will ever be available for public consumption. Attorney Jeff Gutchess, who represents Fuller and Pinilla, said his clients agreed to keep the commissioner’s records confidential, something he said is fairly standard in this type of civil proceeding.
“There’s not much in terms of assets. We didn’t need to embarrass him,” Gutchess said.
Carollo’s most recent financial disclosure with the city of Miami through the end of 2022 shows assets of $2.58 million. The largest is his Coconut Grove home on Morris Lane, valued at $2.5 million. The remainder is from a checking account and a retirement plan. The disclosure form claims a debt of $271,128 to First Horizon Bank, without explanation.
Carollo said he has no additional income from an outside job and that he’s turned over a list of personal property to the court that if put into auction will likely not yield much money. He tried protecting his Coconut Grove home from seizure last summer by changing the title to reflect ownership by him and his wife. Jointly owned property can’t be seized under Florida law. But the move ultimately failed because the judgment filed against him in court came before the title was altered.
In December, the court ordered Carollo’s wages and income from Miami garnished, but with the stipulation that the city hang on to the money until the commissioner’s attempts to quash the order are heard. Federal law limits a garnishment to no more than 25% of any individual defendant’s disposable earnings after deductions, or 30 times the federal minimum hourly wage, whichever is less per pay period.
In addition to his $58,000 salary, Carollo gets about another $45,000 a year in city benefits that include car and phone stipends. Both his salary and most of his benefits have been garnished.
Gutchess, the businessmen’s attorney, has also filed a motion seeking information on a company allegedly operated by Carollo’s wife. The attorney said Carollo is “fighting like hell to keep us from getting access to that.”
“We believe there are funds flowing through his wife’s company. It’s obviously generating revenue,” said Gutchess.
Carollo is arguing that his salary can’t be garnished because he’s the head of a household with several dependents. He also said his wife earns less than he does and that her company is in the red.
“Frankly, all my wife’s company has, is debt,” he said.
Jury: Carollo ‘weaponized’ city resources against the businessmen
The commissioner’s issues with Fuller and Pinilla go back to just before his 2017 runoff election victory in Miami’s District 3 over attorney Alfonso “Alfie” Leon. The businessmen — who own and operate several of Calle Ocho’s most popular destinations, from the Ball & Chain nightclub to the Tower Hotel — attracted Carollo’s ire when they sponsored a political rally for Leon in one of their properties.
The men claim from that point on, Carollo did all he could to shut down their businesses and ruin their reputations. So they filed a lawsuit to try and recover their losses and to force Carollo to abandon similar tactics in the future.
After a seven-week trial last spring, a federal jury in Fort Lauderdale agreed with the businessmen that Carollo tried to destroy them and their businesses. They agreed he forced police and code enforcement to target about a dozen of their properties in Little Havana.
Late last year, Fuller and Pinilla filed a virtual copy-cat lawsuit against the city of Miami and more than two dozen employees, including City Manager Art Noriega and City Attorney Victoria Mendez. The lawsuit also lists 13 businesses operated by Fuller and Pinilla as plaintiffs and seeks to cover the cost of damages.
“The fact is we’ve sustained damages and he’s doubling and tripling down, going out and suggesting we’re involved in other kinds of criminal activity. It’s slanderous,” said Fuller.
Carollo has claimed Fuller and Pinilla were involved in criminal enterprise in the past — though his claims have been debunked. Specifically, an investigative report from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement from 2018 shows Carollo made wildly inaccurate claims about Fuller being the head of a “cabal of Venezuelan investors” whose goal was to buy up Little Havana property and control Miami elections. The FDLE said the investigation was “exceptionally cleared” for lack of evidence.
More recently, Carollo told the Miami Herald he would resign if Fuller could prove that $6.5 million in loans received through the federal Paycheck Protection Program was spent properly. He’s also claimed that Fuller committed mortgage and voter fraud.
Both claims are unsubstantiated. Fuller said he borrowed about $2.5 million worth of PPP loans, which helped during the height of the pandemic.
“We’re above board,” said Fuller. “I’m not even concerned about that. It’s a non-issue.”
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