Alonso pleads guilty, says she is sorry: Former Dade Commissioner Miriam Alonso apologized 'for all the pain that our actions have brought' after she and her husband pleaded guilty to theft and.

Publication: Miami Herald (Miami, Florida)

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COPYRIGHT 2006 The Miami Herald

Byline: Scott Hiaasen

Oct. 27--In 1998, Miami-Dade Commissioner Miriam Alonso penned an editorial bemoaning the plague of corruption scandals then afflicting the county, and lashing out at "the venality of certain corrupt officials." On Thursday, some eight years later, Alonso's own venality was finally laid bare: She pleaded guilty to 20 felonies for looting campaign accounts in 1998 and 1999 and trying to cover up the crimes. Her husband, Leonel, also pleaded guilty. "Are you doing so because you are, in fact, guilty?" Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Peter Adrien asked the ex-commissioner.

"Yes, sir," said Alonso, who was removed from office after her arrest in 2002. Alonso then read a prepared statement, as required by prosecutors under her plea agreement: "We hereby acknowledge our guilt, and also take this opportunity...

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