Mayors of Miami Lakes and Sweetwater, both now suspended, along with a pair of lobbyists, obtained delays of their indictments on kickback charges in federal court Tuesday.
Former Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi, one-time Sweetwater Mayor Manuel Maroño, and lobbyists Richard Candia and Jorge Forte will now have their arraignments on Sept. 20, miamihearld.com reported.
The delay suggests that some of the defendants might be working out plea deals rather than face indictments and jury trials, the paper also reported.
Federal prosecutors say, Pizza and Marono, along with two lobbyists, accepted thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for championing federal grant applications for their towns. In reality, the men were in on a scam to line their pockets with the grant money and not bring funds into municipal coffers, the feds said.
Gov. Rick Scott suspended Pizzi and Marono from office, earlier this month.
