FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - A star witness has offered up testimony in the trial of former Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper, as she faces charges for alleged misconduct and campaign finance crimes.
Alan Koslow, the lobbyist who allegedly presented bribes to Cooper, took the stand in court Wednesday.
A prosecutor asked Koslow, “Did you suggest a campaign contribution to the defendant on behalf of your clients — the developers who you later learned were FBI agents?”
“Yes,” he said.
Cooper stands accused of accepting money from undercover FBI agents posing as land developers in 2012.
“Today is about the six times the defendant spoke to an undercover agent about illegal campaign contributions,” prosecutor Catherine Maus said in court Tuesday.
Koslow allegedly made the introduction and suggested a donation of several thousand dollars.
A prosecutor asked, “Did you show it to the defendant?”
“Yes,” Koslow said.
The prosecutor then asked, “What was her response?”
“Add a zero,” Koslow replied.
The meeting between the undercover agent and Cooper at Gulfstream Park was captured by hidden body cameras.
“Where’s the Yard House?” an agent is heard saying on video. “Is it through here?”
“I already told you that I support it,” Cooper is heard responding.
“We know we have your support, right?” the agent asks her. “We know you owe us one vote.”
Prosecutors said she discussed payments two weeks prior at a nearby restaurant.
“Is five still good from us going forward?” an agent asked at the restaurant, to which Cooper responded, “Yeah, whatever it is. Yeah.”
However, defense attorneys said the former mayor is innocent.
“Mayor Cooper has voted her right to her family and in service of the community,” said defense attorney Larry Davis.
Davis said she was caught up in someone else’s crimes.
That person, the attorney said, is Koslow, who was working with the FBI and has pleaded guilty to money laundering charges.
“It was Koslow’s scheme to take cash from what he thought were developers,” Davis said.
Koslow said the agents offered cash.
“They want to know if they can give it as cash, and I suggested to them not to give it as cash,” Koslow said.
Instead, Koslow said the money was funneled through checks that were shown in court. Cooper endorsed the checks that were shown.
Defense attorneys said the money was for Koslow, who needed it to fund his cocaine habit.
“Normally on the weekends and after work, correct?” a defense attorney asked.
“I regret it now, but yes,” Koslow testified.
Cooper served as mayor for 13 years.
If convicted, each of the charges Cooper faces carry a maximum sentence of up to five years.
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