Former Miami Commissioner\u00a0Joe Carollo\u00a0has agreed to settle a whistleblower lawsuit accusing him of corruption and retaliation.<\/p>\n
Attorneys for Carollo and the\u00a0Bayfront Park Management Trust<\/a>\u00a0filed a notice this week in federal court stating the parties had \u201cresolved this matter\u201d and were finalizing settlement documents.<\/p>\n The agreement ends a lawsuit\u00a0filed in January 2025<\/a>\u00a0by former Bayfront Park Management Trust Executive Director\u00a0Jose Suarez\u00a0and former Finance Director\u00a0Jose Canto.<\/p>\n The men accused Carollo of misusing public funds, steering money to political allies and retaliating against them after they raised concerns about financial practices at the agency.<\/p>\n The settlement amount was not disclosed.<\/p>\n Legal news outlet\u00a0Law360 first reported<\/a>\u00a0on the settlement Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe parties in this case, and their counsel, and their insurers, all worked together on a sensible resolution,\u201d attorney\u00a0Jeff Gutchess, who represented Suarez, told the\u00a0Miami Herald<\/a>.<\/p>\n Carollo continued to deny wrongdoing Wednesday, calling the complaint \u201cthe most frivolous lawsuit with no merit whatsoever.\u201d He told the Herald the settlement was a business decision by the defendants\u2019 insurance company and \u201cnot a huge amount.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawsuit drew attention because Suarez had once been considered a Carollo ally. He served as Carollo\u2019s Chief of Staff at City Hall from 2019 to 2022, before Carollo hired him to lead the Bayfront Park Management Trust in March 2024.<\/p>\n Suarez\u00a0resigned<\/a>\u00a0in December 2024, then sued the next month alongside Canto.<\/p>\n Their complaint alleged the Trust \u2014 which oversees Bayfront Park, Maurice Ferr\u00e9 Park and major events including\u00a0Ultra Music Festival<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 lacked proper accounting controls and competitive bidding procedures.<\/p>\n The lawsuit also claimed Bayfront Park funds improperly benefited Carollo and his allies. According to\u00a0WPLG<\/a>, Suarez and Canto alleged $60,000 in Trust money supported Carollo\u2019s Little Havana Fridays event and $150,000 went to a broadcaster friendly to him.<\/p>\n Suarez and Canto further alleged they were \u201cattacked, defamed and constructively discharged\u201d after attempting to improve transparency and ethics within the agency.<\/p>\n A federal Judge dismissed the original suit in March, but allowed the plaintiffs to refile. Suarez submitted an amended suit in April without Canto, the Herald reported.<\/p>\n Carollo, 71, entered government service as a police officer and became the Miami Commission\u2019s youngest member at 24 in 1979 and almost immediately began clashing with the city\u2019s then-Police Chief, who\u00a0accused him<\/a>\u00a0of inappropriate and allegedly unlawful acts, including bribing cops and seeking police favors for friends.<\/p>\n In 2023, two local businessmen\u00a0successfully sued<\/a>\u00a0Carollo for violating their First Amendment rights by weaponizing city resources to harass them after they backed his political opponent.\u00a0An appellate court upheld the judgment in July 2025. This past March, the U.S. Supreme Court\u00a0kept the $63.5 million verdict intact<\/a>.<\/p>\n