Steven Bateman, 59, mayor from 2009-2013, was arrested in August of last year during his re-election campaign. The charges against him led off with an undisclosed consulting job he took in 2012 for Community Health of South Florida (CHI). He was paid US$ 125 an hour, but Miami-Dade prosecutors acquired internal documents from CHI which show that Bateman additionally made tens of thousands of dollars from various projects he worked on for the company.
Bateman was accused of illegally lobbying the town council to assist with speeding up construction of a clinic for CHI, report Reuters and The Miami Herald.
He also had ties with Dade Medical College, helping the construction of a new campus in Homestead by having his wife, a local realtor, take on the deal, according to the Miami New Times.
Though Bateman admitted to working as an outside consultant for CHI, he denied that doing so affected his duties as mayor. ‘I had to wear two hats," he told The Miami Herald. "I think I did a good job separating the hats.’
His lawyers likewise argued his ability to keep his private and public work separate, but Bateman was found guilty. He faces up to 15 years behind bars for each felony count.
Bateman was the third South Florida mayor to be arrested last summer in an ongoing corruption crackdown.
