A former receptionist for Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo testified Wednesday that her boss coerced her into claiming she had been sexually harassed by two former high-ranking aides in the office, who were on the outs with the commissioner.
Tanjha Quintana, who has since moved to Texas, told jurors in Miami federal court that she was summoned to the commissioner’s home in early 2019 by his wife, then told to tell a city hearing board that two former lieutenants — Steve Miro and Richie Blom — had made unwanted advances. Both aides had raised questions about the commissioner’s campaign against two Little Havana business owners who had backed a political foe.
“He told me everything he wanted me to say. That he [Miro] was sexually harassing me. That he was very inquisitive about my personal life,” Quintana said under questioning from attorney Courtney Caprio, who is representing two men suing Carollo in a civil suit over allegations he misused his authority to target their businesses.
“I was terrified.,” she testified. “I was 20. It was my first real job. He’s [Carollo] related to my family. First, I didn’t want to lose my job. And I didn’t want to create any family problems.”
Little Havana property owners William Fuller and Martin Pinilla claim that after they threw their support behind one of Carollo’s political opponents in 2017, the commissioner pressured police and code enforcers to harass several businesses they operated, including the popular nightclub Ball & Chain. They’re seeking $2.5 million and punitive damages.
Her testimony came during a short but eventful day in trial that has already packed plenty of drama into its first three weeks. Judge Rodney Smith also denied the second request for a mistrial from Carollo’s defense team. This time surrounding the testimony of Quintana — only the latest witness to describe the long-time commissioner engaging in a pattern of arm-twisting with city staffers to single out the Little Havana businesses.
In earlier testimony, Miro, who had worked as a community liaison, testified he was fired by Carollo after taking issue with the commissioner’s focus on Fuller’s businesses.
Quintana said she lied about Miro’s advances after being sworn in before the city’s Civil Service Board, which was hearing the former aide’s wrongful termination case. Quintana said Carollo also forced her to “lie” about similar behavior by Blom, then the commissioner’s chief of staff. Blom resigned, he said, after refusing to carry out orders from Carollo to find problems with Fuller’s properties
After his firing, Miro sued the city of Miami for wrongful termination. A settlement was reached out of court. He told the court earlier in the trial the settlement was in the “six figures.” In a deposition taken leading to Miro’s lawsuit against the city, Quintana had recanted the statements she made to the Civil Service Board about both men
“It’s probably one of the things I regret the most,” Quintana told jurors Wednesday. “I was forced to lie and say things that weren’t true. I felt terrible. To this day, I can’t believe I did that.”
Carollo attorney Marc Sarnoff questioned Quintana’s credibility, reminding her she swore an oath before taking the job and that in her departure letter she thanked Carollo for the opportunity to work in his office and said it had been a “pleasure.”
“Is that truthful,” the attorney asked Quintana.
“No, not at all,” she replied.
The trial, which will resume on Monday, has already had a string of dramatic developments.
During its first week in Fort Lauderdale, historic rainfall forced the shutdown of the federal courthouse and the trial moved to Miami.
Then after testimony last week, Carollo foe and former Police Chief Art Acevedo reported being followed from the courthouse to a restaurant in Coral Gables. He called police, who determined the two men tailing the chief were private investigators. A week later, it’s still not clear if they had actually been hired to tail the former chief and if so why. The city has not responded to public records request regarding the private detective. Acevedo, in a statement, raised allegations of witness intimidation.
Then on Tuesday, Carollo was a no-show in court, even though he was on a potential witness list. One of his attorneys, Marc Sarnoff, himself a former city commissioner, claimed Carollo suffered some type of asthma attack and a doctor informed the judge that Carollo would need some time off. That came the same day Carollo’s lawyers asked for a mistrial after a juror told the court a man — who Carollo’s defense team said was a Fuller business partner — in the parking garage across the street had said something about the trial as they were going to their vehicles.
Smith did grant a request from Carollo’s attorneys to seal the mistrial motion they had made public the previous day.
It wasn’t clear if Smith had formally ruled on the first mistrial motion but on Wednesday he said court would resume Monday and that he expected defense attorneys to produce Carollo.
“Make sure he’s here promptly at 9 a.m.,” he said.