Dante Starks, an influential figure in Opa Locka and close
associate of former City Commissioner Luis Santiago, was sentenced today to
five years in prison by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez for his
participation in the long-running Opa Locka municipal corruption conspiracy and
his failure to file federal income tax returns.
Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern
District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, and Michael J. De Palma, Special Agent
in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), made the
announcement.
Starks pled guilty on June 25, 2018, to a two-count
Superseding Information. Specifically,
Starks pled guilty to conspiring to commit extortion under color of official
right and federal programs bribery, in violation of Title 18, United States
Code, Sections 371, 1951(a) and 666(a)(1)(B), and to failing to file his 2015
federal income tax return, in violation of Title 26, United States Code,
Section 7203 (18-20313-CR-MARTINEZ).
Judge Martinez sentenced Starks to 60 months in prison, to be followed
by 3 years of supervised release. Starks
was also ordered to forfeit $45,700 to the United States, to pay restitution to
the victims of the corruption scheme and to pay $39,416 in restitution to the
IRS for unpaid taxes. A victim
restitution hearing has been scheduled for December 14, 2018, before Judge
Martinez.
“Today, a significant participant in the long-running Opa
Locka municipal corruption conspiracy was held accountable for his many
criminal acts that compromised the integrity of the city’s governmental
functions,” stated U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan. “The cases announced to date, as part of the
Opa Locka corruption investigation, do not signal an end to our enforcement
efforts. The U.S. Attorney’s Office and
our dedicated partners at the FBI and IRS-CI remain committed to the
investigation and prosecution of corrupt officials and encourage the public to
continue to report all suspected criminal acts.”
"Corrupt Opa Locka municipal officials and their
associates breached the public's trust and are now being held to account,"
said George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami. “Public corruption remains a top priority for
the FBI. We encourage anyone who may
have information about corruption to come forward and report it. This
information is vital to our work.”
“Today's sentencing brings an important defendant in this
corruption investigation to justice. The
results of this case send a clear message that the law applies to everyone,
regardless of position or power,” stated Michael J. De Palma, Special Agent in
Charge, IRS-CI. “This joint law enforcement effort shows our commitment to
investigate individuals who violate the public trust, and IRS-CI will continue
to utilize our financial expertise in these cases where individuals misuse
official positions and ignore their tax obligations.”
According to the court record, including the stipulated
factual basis for the plea, Starks conspired with former Opa Locka City
Commissioner Luis Santiago, former Opa Locka City Manager David Chiverton, and
former Opa Locka Assistant Public Works Director Gregory Harris, to use the
official positions and authority that Santiago, Chiverton, and Harris had with
the City of Opa Locka to solicit, demand, and obtain personal payments from
businesses and individuals in exchange for taking official actions to assist
and benefit those businesses and individuals in their official dealings with
the City of Opa Locka.
Although Starks was not an official or employee of the City
of Opa Locka, he was closely associated with and had great influence over
Santiago. Starks also had, and exercised
significant influence over, numerous other city officials and employees,
including Chiverton and Harris, and he regularly used that significant
influence to pressure and direct city officials and employees to take official
actions on matters relating to occupational licenses, code enforcement
citations and fines, liens, water service and billing, zoning, and city
contracting. Working together, Santiago
and Starks solicited and obtained illegal payments from businesses and
individuals in Opa Locka, and in exchange, Santiago would take official actions
on their behalf, and Starks and Santiago would pressure and direct Chiverton,
Harris, and other City of Opa Locka employees to take official actions on
behalf of those businesses and individuals.
In addition, Starks participated in a conspiracy with
Santiago and others to receive bribes in exchange for ensuring that a
particular company received a city contract.
In April 2015, Santiago and Starks met with Raul Sosa Sr. (“Sosa Sr.”),
who agreed to pay them a $10,000 bribe to ensure that the company Sosa Sr. was
associated with, referred to as the “Towing Company,” was selected as one of
the companies receiving a city towing contract.
Over the next two months, Starks collected $10,000 in cash payments from
Raul Sosa Jr. (“Sosa Jr.”), the Towing Company’s manager, and in exchange,
Starks arranged for Opa Locka’s Purchasing Director to assemble and prepare the
Towing Company’s bid package. After this
bid was submitted, Starks violated the city’s purchasing Cone of Silence by
contacting a member of the city’s committee evaluating the towing bids and
directing that individual to rank the Towing Company as the number one
company. To complete the illegal
arrangement, at the June 24, 2015, City Commission meeting authorizing the
award of the towing contracts, Santiago used his position as a City
Commissioner to bring forward and vote in favor of the resolution authorizing
the City Manager to enter into a city contract with the Towing Company.
Starks also willfully failed to file federal income tax
returns for the tax years 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Starks had over $39,000 in unpaid tax liability arising from the income
he earned during those years.
Starks was the seventh individual to be sentenced for his
involvement in the Opa Locka corruption conspiracy. Related cases arising from the Opa Locka
corruption investigation are the following:
Santiago previously pled guilty to conspiring to commit
Federal programs bribery and Hobbs Act extortion under color of official right
(Case No. 16-20971-CR-WILLIAMS).
Santiago was sentenced to 51 months in prison (the sentence was
subsequently reduced to 30 months in prison).
Chiverton previously pled guilty to conspiring to commit Federal
programs bribery and Hobbs Act extortion under color of official right (Case
No. 16-20596-CR-ALTONAGA). Chiverton was
sentenced to 38 months in prison, to be followed by 8 months of home
confinement.
Harris previously pled guilty to conspiring to commit
Federal programs bribery and Hobbs Act extortion under color of official right
(Case No. 16-20589-CR-BLOOM). Harris was
the first defendant to plead guilty to charges arising from this investigation,
and received a sentence of probation.
Sosa Sr. and Sosa Jr. previously pled guilty to conspiracy
to commit Federal programs bribery (Case No. 18-20256-CR-MARTINEZ). Sosa Sr. was sentenced to 30 months in
prison, consecutive to a 78-month sentence he received for an unrelated federal
tax conviction in 2016. Sosa Jr. was
sentenced to probation.
Demetrius Corleon Taylor, a non-employee who also helped
collect money from Opa Locka businesses in exchange for official actions by
city employees, previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit Federal programs
bribery and Hobbs Act extortion under color of official right (Case No.
16-20890-CR-GAYLES). He was sentenced to
5 months in prison, to be followed by 5 months of home confinement.
U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative
efforts of the FBI Miami Area Corruption Task Force and IRS-CI in this
matter. Mrs. Fajardo Orshan thanked the
Miami-Dade Police Department and Hialeah Police Department for their
assistance. This case was prosecuted by
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Edward N. Stamm and Maurice Johnson.
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