Feds cast wide net in Pepe Diaz probe

[Robbien]

Source: Miami Herald

When Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jose ''Pepe'' Diaz championed a zoning change for land owned by developers Sergio Pino and Armando Codina -- without disclosing that he'd flown with Pino on his private jet to Cancún -- he may have violated the federal law at the heart of the case against famed Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.


Under the federal statute, prosecutors don't have to prove a direct bribe -- that is, a gift for a specific favor. Instead, they only have to demonstrate ''a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services'' from a public official.

. . .

Diaz and Pino left for a weekend fishing trip to Cancún in early May 2004, little more than a week after an application was filed to change the county's master plan to allow residential construction on a large piece of industrial land that Pino and developer Codina were buying in Diaz's district.

Diaz did not disclose the trip on his quarterly gift disclosure with the state ethics commission in June, but voted for a zoning change for the land when it came before the county commission in December -- a key step in converting the $80 million parcel into a development that is already worth hundreds of millions, public records show.

. . .

Diaz's support for the Doral rezoning effort was crucial because the land is in his district, and fellow commissioners generally vote with the district representative on such matters. The measure passed, 13-0.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/416/story/97718.html