Justice delayed in justice denied

 " given a Dunkin’ Donuts bag filled with $8,000 in cash by undercover agents August 2012"

Yes - that's right. Almost six years ago. Why has it taken so long to prosecute this case?

Here is how the Sun Sentinel described it:

" The Mayor met with people she thought were wealthy developers from California, court documents say. They were actually undercover FBI agents pretending to seek political favor for a project in Hallandale Beach. 

The agents met with Cooper (Mayor) and Koslow (Attorney now disbarred) over several months in 2012 and secretly recorded their meetings, court records say. Koslow did not become aware his developer pals were FBI agents until August 2013, when they confronted him in a Fort Lauderdale hotel room, records show.

During a meeting in July 2012 between Cooper, the undercover agents and Koslow, Cooper was recorded saying she and two other commissioners were a “team of three” and could ensure a favorable result for their project, according to the arrest affidavit. 

The meeting took place in City Hall.“Alan Koslow showed Mayor Cooper a number representing a proposed contribution and asked her if it was a good number. She replied ‘No. Add a zero.” Koslow confirmed ‘Three zeros, is that fine?’ and Mayor Cooper replied ‘Yes,’” according to the arrest affidavit. "

I think this delay in justice is a real problem and here is why:

• As unlikely as it seems from the Sun Sentinel article, if the Mayor and/or her attorney were innocent - it is so long ago to recall the exact facts that may prove your innocence. What were you doing in August 2012?
• If you were running against this Mayor for office - then you are at an unfair advantage because it looks like she was receiving more campaign donations then she otherwise would due to corruption. And she had that advantage for 5 years longer then she would have if she was charged promptly.
• If you were a developer, your business is at a disadvantage compared to developers paying bribes. This could drive you out of business or worse because it went on for so long - make you think the only way to survive is to pay bribes. Making corruption worse then it otherwise would have been.
• The delay in prosecution also opens the door to somebody blackmailing the Mayor or Attorney - introducing a whole new level of corruption.

There may be good reason why the prosecution took so long - but with all the shenanigans the DOJ and FBI have apparently been up to in Washington - it just makes you think both organizations need a really good shake up to restore people's faith in our justice system.

I should also point out the Mayor was a Democrat - while I have not read anywhere that the delay was due to political favoritism - it makes suspicious minds wonder. Maybe this is the start of the shake up.