What happens when a Miami-Dade commissioner goes to jail? A look at Martinez’s bad day

Latoya Keels said she didn’t recognize the older inmate in a goatee as Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez.

But his special jumpsuit stuck with her since everyone else in custody was wearing orange and had to clear out of a common area when he arrived.

“He was in red,” Keels, 34, said after seeing a photo of Martinez while she waited for a ride home from jail Tuesday afternoon. “They put us in cells when he came in.”

READ MORE: Miami-Dade commissioner Martinez jailed briefly. Warrant details corruption probe

Martinez, 64, went from providing oversight to the county’s jail system as a Miami-Dade commissioner for nearly 18 years to being an inmate for five hours after surrendering to authorities to face criminal charges.

Prosecutors allege he introduced legislation in 2017 to help a business owner who paid Martinez $15,000 after he was elected to the District 11 seat the year before. He had held the seat between 2000 and 2012, then returned to office four years later.

Martinez arrived at the Turner Guilford Knight detention center shortly before 9 a.m. in an unmarked police car, entering through a garage instead of the more visible chain-link parking lot used for other inmates being processed that day.

Once inside, jail staff had him pose for a mug shot. Martinez wore an open-collared dark shirt and a blank expression, his eyes looking just below the camera lens.

Martinez then donned a red jumpsuit reserved for high-profile inmates, according to a timeline provided by Corrections Department spokesperson Juan Diasgranados.

When well-known people are brought into custody, Diasgranados said, that also triggers special precautions that include the special crimson uniform, plus clearing common areas and hallways of other inmates.

“That happens for athletes, celebrities, and anyone in the news,” Diasgranados said outside the jail where about a dozen reporters and television cameras awaited Martinez’s departure. “It’s for their safety.”

The commissioner’s VIP status didn’t spare him from a paperwork mistake at the jail that kept him in custody for a bond hearing that turned out not to be needed.

During a video bond hearing, Judge Mindy Glazer said Martinez’s charges didn’t require an appearance before her, since a bond agent had already posted Martinez’s $15,000 bail on two felony charges tied to alleged unlawful compensation. A jail processing form mistakenly was coded to require a judge’s approval for release.

“OK, Mr. Martinez,” Glazer said at the start of the proceedings, before correcting herself. “Or, Commissioner Martinez. I’m sorry you were brought into a bond hearing. There shouldn’t have been a hold. That was improper.”

READ MORE: A pugnacious former police officer, Miami-Dade’s Joe Martinez now fighting the law

The proceedings didn’t capture Martinez in jail garb, with the screen showing him dimly from the neck up. But it was the only live glimpse of the commissioner and retired police lieutenant in temporary county custody at a time when he hoped to be on the political upswing.

Last week, Martinez appeared in good spirits at an Election Night party for state Rep. Anthony Rodriguez, one of four commission candidates he supported with his political committee.

Martinez is accused of accepting $15,000 in 2016 and 2017 from a business owner who wanted looser county rules for how many storage containers could be stored on a commercial property. Martinez introduced legislation to loosen the rules, but then withdrew it before the ordinance could advance.

Through his public statement Monday, Martinez insisted he was innocent. But he declined to address the charges against him when he encountered the press outside the jail.

Leaving through the detention center’s lone exit for inmates at 2:09 p.m., a smiling Martinez laughed briefly with the three Corrections officers that escorted him to the door.

Then he strode toward the parking lot, one hand holding a jail-issued packet used to seal wallets and other possessions confiscated at the start of the booking process. He promised to talk to the media at a later date about his case, but said he needed to “just deal with it” for the moment.

“Don’t hit me, don’t hit me,” Martinez said as reporters thrust microphones in his path to the black SUV waiting for him. “We’ll talk. Vamos a hablar.”