1639-39 Politics THU SEP 09 1993 ED: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 1B LENGTH: 18 . 83" MEDIUM
1 ILLUST: photo: Alex DAOUD
SOURCE: TOM DUBOCQ Herald Staff Writer
DATELINE: riCr"
MEMO:
DAOUD GETS
FIVE YEARS FOR
'BIG MISTAKE '
Alex Daoud, the corrupted ex-mayor of Miami Beach, took his punishment
Wednesday like a politician: Minutes after getting a five-year prison
sentence, he hugged a few well-wishers, then posed arm in arm with his Baptist
minister for TV pictures on the courthouse steps.
"I 'm only human, " Daoud said. "I made a big mistake. "
For his big mistake -- accepting bribes in office, evading taxes and
trying to obstruct a grand jury investigation -- Daoud was ordered to report
to prison on Oct. 13. He plans to spend the next few weeks explaining where he
is going to his 4-year- old son, an only child. Daoud, 50 , was sentenced to
63 months and fined $10, 000 by U.S. District Judge James Lawrence King. Under
federal guidelines, it was the maximum prison term he could get. About nine
months could be trimmed from the sentence for good behavior.
The sentence will run concurrently with a 41-month sentence Daoud got in
April for a 1992 bribery conviction. He also was fined $75, 000 in April.
Daoud' s attorney, Nova University law professor Bruce Rogow, said Daoud
already has endured plenty of punishment.
"He is no longer a lawyer, he is no longer mayor, " Rogow told King. "He
is no longer married. He is no longer a man whose word carries weight in this
community. "
Daoud said this: "I just wanted to say to the court that whatever
penalty you levy against me, I am ready to accept. "
He was once the toast of glitzy South Beach, but on Wednesday only a
couple of supporters turned out at his sentencing. Once he was surrounded by
political advisers, but his confidants Wednesday were limited to Rogow and the
Rev. Bill Vandecar of Calvary Baptist Temple. Daoud has become a regular
visitor at the church, Vandecar said.
Daoud' s downfall came with a 1991 federal indictment charging him with
filing false tax returns and demanding bribes and free labor from city
construction contractors, Miami Beach residents and others who needed a friend
in City Hall . Much of the money and free labor helped build a mansion --
without proper city permits -- for Daoud on Sunset Island.
Daoud' s life has soured since then: He was suspended from office. His
wife divorced him in December. In January, he sold his dream house to pay
legal expenses. His expulsion from the Florida Bar is effective today.
This summer, Daoud resolved two dozen pending charges against him by
pleading guilty to tax evasion and to accepting a $5, 000 bribe from former
CenTrust Bank Chairman David Paul.
Paul was also indicted by a federal grand jury.
Prosecutors and Daoud were mum Wednesday about whether Daoud would
testify at Paul ' s trial .
ADDED TERMS : daoud sentence
END OF DOCUMENT.