Jurors needed only three hours to accept state prosecutors' arguments that Martinez accepted three $5,000 payments in 2016 and 2017 from Extra Supermarket owner Jorge Negrin.
As Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Miguel M. de la O read the verdict in a courtroom filled with Martinez's allies, family members burst loudly into tears.
Martinez, surrounded by loved ones, called the jury's decision "an injustice" and expressed disbelief, asserting confidently he would appeal the verdict.
The career of a lifelong public servant who reached the stratosphere of Miami-Dade politics was shattered Thursday when jurors found Joe Martinez guilty of political corruption.
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