HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - The defense attorney for embattled Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper said video from two 2012 meetings she had with undercover FBI agents posing as land developers do not prove she is guilty of accepting money in exchange for supporting a development project.
The footage, released by the State Attorney’s Office, captures Cooper meeting with the agents at the Yard House restaurant at Gulfstream Park in October 2012.
Seated next to the mayor was lobbyist Alan Koslow. While posing as land developers, the agents had hired him to help facilitate a deal with Cooper, who was running for re-election at the time.
Federal officials said Cooper agreed to accept a total of $10,000 in exchange for her support for a development project: $5,000 before the election and $5,000 afterward.
The footage shows Koslow asking Cooper for her backing.
“I already told you that,” she is heard saying.
“Tell him again,” said Koslow.
“I’m going to support it,” said Cooper.
In this meeting, however, Cooper reiterated she can’t give a guarantee. At one point, she is seen wiping away tears, telling the group she’s tired.
But video from a prior meeting, held two weeks earlier at Flashback Diner, across U.S. 1 from Gulfstream Park, an undercover agent is seen confirming his phony company’s payment of $5,000.
“Is five still good from us going forward?” the agent asked.
“Yeah,” replied Cooper.
The investigation stretched several more years. Prosecutors said agents delivered thousands of dollars in cash to Koslow’s home in a Dunkin’ Donuts bag.
Cooper was arrested in January.
“We have no further comment at this point, and we’ll see you guys in court,” Cooper’s attorney, Larry Davis, told reporters at the time of the arrest.
Speaking with 7News on Friday, Davis said, if anything, these videos prove that she wasn’t offering any sort of quid pro quo.
“The tape that I’ve seen doesn’t show any negligible activity by Mayor Cooper. Just the opposite,” said Davis. “It shows that when the undercover officers were attempting to give her quid pro quo, she told them there would be no guarantees.”
Cooper has been charged with money laundering, official misconduct and exceeding campaign contributions.
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