NATION IN BRIEF : FLORIDA : Officials Suspended, Charged in Payoffs
The mayor of the city of Hialeah, Fla., surrendered to the FBI to face charges that he conspired with a city councilman to extort payoffs from developers seeking zoning changes. Raul Martinez and the councilman, Andres Mejides, were to appear before a federal magistrate in Miami a day after a grand jury returned indictments against them and Gov. Bob Martinez suspended both men without pay. Raul Martinez, 41, is named in two racketeering and seven extortion-related counts, said Marcella Cohen, first assistant U.S. attorney. Mejides, 51, is named in two racketeering counts and four counts of obtaining property by extortion.
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