Fernandez Rundle: Grieco's Fall From Grace A Cautionary Tale

MIAMI BEACH, FL — With Election Day just around the corner, Miami-Dade's top prosecutor wants former Miami Beach Commissioner Michael Grieco's fall from grace to serve as a cautionary tale. Grieco resigned his seat on Tuesday and entered into a plea deal over a misdemeanor election crime. Grieco has not responded to a Patch request for comment.

"Commissioner Grieco was a rising young public servant and it’s sad to see him tumble like this," Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle told Patch in an interview after the plea deal was concluded.

See also Michael Grieco Resigns Seat, Takes Plea Deal On Election Offense and Special Miami Beach Meeting Abruptly Canceled

"But there are no exceptions to the law, so I think that’s an important message to the public that we all serve," she said.

While Grieco ran into trouble over fundraising, there are other ways for local officials to run afoul of the law, according to the state attorney.

"There are a number of people — whether it’s absentee ballots or its election fraud, or its residency stating false statements about where you actually live and which district you can run in — cumulatively, the public starts to wonder or question the real integrity of governance, of the election process, of public servants," Fernandez Rundle observed, referring to elected officials as pillars of society.

"They’re our beacons of society and so when the public loses confidence in those beacons, then apathy sets in and apathy can be a real cancer for communities and societies," she said.

Grieco, who at one time looked as though he might become the next mayor of Miami Beach, worked for Fernandez Rundle for six years as a prosecutor before embarking on a political career in 2013. He spent much of his time in the State Attorney's Office working in gang and narcotics enforcement before becoming a supervising Felony Division Chief in 2005, according to his official Miami Beach bio.

"I think it’s also important for others who may be holding similarly situated positions to recognize that the public really does demand transparency, and the reason that this law existed is because they want transparency."

Under the terms of his plea deal, Grieco will be barred from running for, or holding public office over the next year. He must also pay about $6,000 in restitution to cover the cost of his criminal investigation.

In an interview with a television news crew, Grieco said his offense related to a specific contribution and "what I knew or what I did not know." He added that he was happy to put the case behind him.

"Campaign finance laws and election laws are mostly about transparency. Who’s giving money to whom," explained Fernandez Rundle. "That was really a way of circumventing that process by finding someone who's permitted by law — a straw donor — to give money, but really it’s coming from a foreign national who is not permitted under the law to make a contribution to a PAC or a campaign account."

The fundraising offense was related to Grieco's mayoral bid. He dropped out of that race following a series of Miami Herald reports earlier in the summer that claimed to link him to an outside fundraising group. He said that he instead planned to focus his attention on seeking re-election to his Group 2 seat.

Grieco dropped his re-election bid for that seat in September, one week after Patch published an article questioning Grieco's misleading Facebook posts during Hurricane Irma.

Grieco sent his resignation via email on Tuesday morning.

As a city commissioner, Grieco removed his City Hall office door from its hinges as a symbol of transparency in government.

"I’m sure he and his family are as disappointed as his public and his constituents because he had quite a following," Fernandez Rundle added. "But no one is above the law, and it’s an unfortunate day. But it’s a very good message I think."

Photo by Paul Scicchitano