DeSantis to reinstate suspended Joy Cooper
Hallandale Beach mayor was found not guilty of corruption
HALLANDALE BEACH Gov. Ron DeSantis has decided to reinstate suspended Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper, the South Florida Sun Sentinel has learned.
An executive order reinstating Cooper, who was found not guilty of corruption charges on Nov. 26, is expected to be issued Thursday.
The order will allow Cooper to return to office for the remainder of her term, which expires in November 2020.
Cooper was removed from office by then-Gov. Rick Scott the day after her arrest on Jan. 25, 2018.
The longtime mayor, ensnared in an FBI sting, was accused of accepting $5,000 in illegal campaign money seven
years ago. The slew of charges included accepting illegal campaign contributions, two counts of money laundering, official misconduct and soliciting contributions in a government building. Prosecutors later dropped the money laundering charges.
Jurors acquitted Cooper of all charges on Nov. 26, taking slightly more than two hours to return a verdict.
While Cooper was awaiting trial, Hallandale Beach
voters elected a new mayor, Joy Adams. Adams was to serve until Cooper was reinstated or until her term ends.
In the days after her acquittal, Cooper declined to say whether she planned to return to politics.
But by Wednesday, Cooper had decided.
“I do plan to go back to my position,” she said. “It’s been a long two years. My family went through a lot of trauma. But I’m looking forward to returning to the city.”
Had Cooper decided not to return to the dais, the commission would have
been tasked a mayor.
There’s still one thing that even Cooper does not know: Exactly when she will be running her next meeting.
Her attorney, Larry Davis, suspects it could be as soon as Dec. 18. That’s the next commission meeting in Hallandale. with appointing
Joy Cooper leaves the courtroom at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Nov. 26, with her husband Dr. Harry Cooper.