A fed-up federal judge has slammed the gavel on Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo's hopes for a new trial and slashed verdict amount, per recent court decisions. Carollo, snagged in a costly legal net, owes a whopping $63.5 million after losing a lawsuit filed by local businessmen William Fuller and Martin Pinilla, according to WSVN. The jury concluded last June that Carollo had trampled on the First Amendment by targeting the plaintiffs, who dared to back his rival in the political ring.
U.S. District Judge Rodney Smith, clearly unimpressed with Carollo's plea for a do-over, cemented the original multimillion-dollar judgment calling out the commissioner's misuse of his sway to bully the businessmen; Smith deemed Carollo's actions "continuous and unrelenting," and "intentional and malicious," the WSVN report detailed. Meanwhile, the commissioner's lawyer crusaded against purported trial blunders and excessive damages, yet Smith wasn't budging, stating the "only shock to the conscience here is that Defendant used his position and power to weaponize the City government against Plaintiffs."
Carollo's corner remains combative, readying an appeal, with the commissioner himself convinced the higher courts will toss the case upon a full review despite Judge Smith's pointed ruling — Carollo claimed, "I've been held hostage for months and months and months, waiting for the judge to rule in this so that I can appeal," he told WSVN in a phone interview.
Adding insult to fiscal injury, the specter of Carollo's luxe Coconut Grove home hitting the auction block looms large, a move aimed at settling some of the hefty debt stemming from this verdict, as reported by CBS News Miami. With his personal assets under marshals' microscopes, the commissioner's next battle is to thwart the public sale of his residence, a decision on which is pending from another judge expected soon, aiming to prevent the commissioner's home from going under the gavel to pay off a slice of the massive fine.
