Family drama and political corruption have collided in Opa-locka this afternoon as three immediate family members of the town's Mayor Myra Taylor were rounded up and arrested for campaign fund fraud.
John Taylor, the mayor's husband, Demetrius Taylor, her son, and Elvira Smith, her sister, all now face multiple charges.
Myra Taylor had barely taken office back in November 2010 when Miami-Dade Police Department's Public Corruption Investigations Bureau and the Commission on Ethics and Public Trust opened an investigation into her campaign funding.
Investigators believe more than $6,000 in campaign funds were funneled through two companies owned by Taylor's relatives.
According to Local 10, the trio now "face charges of making campaign contributions in excess of $500, accepting campaign contributions in excess of $500, evidence tampering and conspiring to violate the elections code, all third-degree felonies, as well as a first-degree misdemeanor count of conspiring to tamper with evidence."
Taylor's current term is her second as the city's mayor. She was removed form office seven years ago by then-Gov. Jeb Bush after she was criminally charged for defrauding the Internal Revenue Service. She ended up pleading guilty to a lesser misdemeanor in the case which allowed her to return to elected office.
More recently she was hit with a $1,500 fine for ethics violations while serving as the town's vice mayor:
An investigation revealed that in 2009 and 2010, when Taylor was vice-mayor, she engaged in voting conflicts by supporting a $5,000 funding resolution that benefited the non-profit corporation she heads. She also improperly influenced city officials to support a special event that paid more than $2,600 to her daughter, according to the probable cause complaint against her.Follow Miami New Times on Facebook and Twitter @MiamiNewTimes.
