MIAMI (WSVN) - Just days after U.S. Marshals were ordered to seize City of Miami Commissioner Joe Carollo’s personal assets, the owners of the Little Havana hotspot Ball & Chain are going after him again.
The owners of the entertainment venue filed paperwork in court Tuesday requesting Carollo to be removed from his position as the District 3 City Commissioner. The paperwork stated that Carollo intentionally violated their right to free speech.
“The Miami City Charter begins with a ‘Citizens’ Bill of Rights.’ Any ‘public official, or employee who is found by the court to have willfully violated this section shall forthwith forfeit his or her office or employment,'” the paperwork reads.
This is the latest escalation in the five-year plus saga between the owners of Ball & Chain and Carollo.
Last week, a federal court ordered U.S. Marshals to seize Carollo’s assets to help pay off a judgement for a federal civil lawsuit he lost against the owners. Then in June 2023, a jury found the commissioner liable for harassing them and ordered him to pay $63.5 million in damages.
Carollo said the courts have delayed his ability to fight that judgement against him.
“They better understand this. Once this gets overturned, any piece of furniture that they took away from me — how many socks, shirts, pants, underwear do they want to take? They are going to have to pay for it,” Carollo said.
In the filing, the owner of Ball & Chain wrote, “a speedy hearing, within one month, is appropriate here as no discovery is required for this action.”
7News has reached out to the Ball & Chain’s attorneys, as well as Carollo’s attorneys.
On Wednesday, Miami City Attorney Victoria Mendez issued a statement that reads as follows:
The federal case against Commissioner Carollo is still pending post trial motions and an appeal. This is yet another effort by plaintiffs in that case to harass sitting Commissioner Carollo and force the City of Miami to continue spending tax payer funds unnecessarily to defend itself against the plaintiffs’ unlimited resources and serial lawsuits.
Victoria Mendez
The law firm representing Ball & Chain’s owners are set to speak with 7News in the afternoon.
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