Ousted mayor appears in court
Corruption trial months away for Hallandale’s Joy Cooper
FORT LAUDERDALE – Ousted from office after being caught in an FBI sting, longtime Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper has a new stage: the courtroom.
Cooper, accompanied by husband Harry Cooper, kept a smile on her face during a brief hearing on Thursday.
The smile faded as she stood in front of the judge.
He asked how she was doing. “Very well under the circumstances,” she said. “Thank you for asking.”
Cooper’s trial on corruption charges is not expected to begin until at least December or next year.
“We’re certainly not ready to go” because the defense is waiting on documents from the prosecution, Cooper’s attorney Larry Davis told Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein.
Davis has filed a motion requesting that state prosecutors release additional records related to the FBI’s takedown of once-prominent attorney Alan Koslow — a request on which the judge has not yet ruled.
Six years ago, Koslow introduced Cooper to two agents secretly posing as out-of-town developers pretending to seek political favor for a high-rise project in Hallandale Beach.
The agents offered to funnel campaign money to Cooper through Koslow, who was later disbarred after a conviction on
federal charges.
Both agents met with Cooper and Koslow over several months in 2012, secretly recording their meetings.
In August 2012, the “developers” turned over $8,000 in cash to Koslow — all in $100 bills stashed in a Dunkin’ Donuts bag.
Koslow had no idea the men were undercover FBI agents until they confronted him in a Fort Lauderdale hotel room in August 2013, records show.
After Koslow’s arrest, he told the agents he “never saw Cooper take any money for a bribe [and] never saw her take money and then vote for something,” according to a court filing.
Davis says that key piece of evidence should have been turned over to prosecutors by the FBI — but was only released to him after the judge agreed he had a right to it.
Now Davis is asking the prosecution to release more evidence he says might be pertinent to Cooper’s case.
Davis is hoping to uncover details about Koslow’s drug use that could have affected his ability to perceive and recall events; any information related to Koslow’s use of cocaine, including drug tests; statements made by Koslow while he was a confidential informant that were determined to be inaccurate or misleading; and information concerning reputed criminal suspects named by Koslow that never led to any arrests.
Cooper appears to be the only elected official snared in the dragnet.
She was arrested Jan. 25 and removed from office the next day by Gov. Rick Scott.
Cooper has pleaded not guilty to money laundering, official misconduct and exceeding the limit on campaign finance contributions — felony charges that each carry a maximum five-year sentence. She has also pleaded not guilty to soliciting contributions in a government building, a first-degree misdemeanor with a one-year maximum sentence.
Her next hearing is set for Sept. 18.