Councilman Galvin Leads Authorities to Suspects

By ALEX VAUGHN

Earlier today, Councilman Scott Galvin revealed that he has been working directly with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office (SAO) on an investigation of public corruption in North Miami, since October 2010.

State law enforcement officers arrested Ricardo Brutus, campaign manager and nephew of North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre today.  He has been criminally charged with unlawful compensation, the equivalent of bribery.  Brutus is also Pierre’s appointee to the City’s Board of Adjustment.

Galvin said in a statement, “It has been a long time coming.” He went on to state, “Today’s arrest is a direct result of information I brought to law enforcement five months ago. The exact details of my assistance in the probe will become known very soon as investigators and the State Attorney publicly release details. And I will share with you whatever they allow me to do that does not jeopardize our case.”

Galvin, a native of North Miami, was first elected to the city council in 1999 and has been subsequently re-elected without opposition in 2003 and 2007. Galvin also sits on the international Board of Directors for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). He announced he was running for re-election in February 2011.

He continued in a statement issued by his office, “It will also become very clear why the corrupt forces of influence have attacked me so personally. They have done their best to discredit me and distract our community from the real scandal. Today’s arrest and the dominoes that will fall as a result will help set the record straight.”

He concluded stating, “While the political pressure and attacks on me have also been difficult to take, they don’t even compare to the damage these corrupt double-dealers have done to North Miami. I spoke up and did what was right for a simple reason — corruption and illegal dealing cannot be tolerated or seen as “just part of the process. It’s not. And as long as I am honored with the public trust, I will not stand for even a moment of it. Today, the first round of justice is being served in North Miami.”