{"id":67236,"date":"2025-12-02T00:35:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T00:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/67236\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T00:35:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T00:35:09","slug":"florida-bar-opens-disciplinary-file-on-miami-beach-candidate-miami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/67236\/","title":{"rendered":"florida bar opens disciplinary file on miami beach candidate | Miami"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Florida Bar last week opened a disciplinary file on a Miami Beach City Commission candidate accused of defaming a local filmmaker who reported on her lasting affinity for her father, the serial killer inspiration for \u201cDexter<\/a>\u201d executed in 2012.<\/p>\n

Monique Pardo Pope, one of two candidates in the Dec. 9 run-off election for the seat, has until the day after the election to respond to allegations that she defamed South Florida filmmaker Billy Corben when she claimed that he\u2019d lost a defamation case.<\/p>\n

This came after Corben discovered that her father was Manuel Pardo, an ex-cop turned drug dealer who murdered nine people in the 1980s and was executed for his crimes in 2012. Pardo Pope has since called her father her \u201chero,\u201d signing off one Instagram post with his last words on the Florida State Prison\u2019s execution table.<\/p>\n

Opening a disciplinary file is the second step in a lengthy process<\/a> to determine whether a Florida attorney has violated the Bar\u2019s rules, although just 25% of yearly complaints against lawyers reach this step. This step simply means that if a complaint\u2019s accusations are proven true, Bar rules would have been violated.<\/p>\n

It is not an outright sign of guilt or non-compliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe enclosed letter is an official inquiry by bar counsel,\u201d reads the notice of grievance procedures emailed to Pardo Pope on Nov. 25, five days after Corben filed his Bar complaint. \u201cIf you do not respond, the matter will be forwarded to the grievance committee for disposition \u2026 . Failure to respond may also be a matter of contempt.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter asks the candidate to respond to Corben\u2019s allegations by Dec. 10 via mail or email.<\/p>\n

What happened?<\/p>\n

The case emerged after the Miami New Times<\/a> picked up Corben\u2019s Sep. 25 report on Instagram<\/a> that Pardo Pope\u2019s father was a pro-Nazi, anti-Black serial killer executed by the state for the deaths of South Florida drug dealers and bystanders alike. Pardo Pope was four years old when the crimes occurred.<\/p>\n

When the Times asked her to respond to Corben\u2019s claims, she accused the filmmaker \u2014 known for documentaries like \u201cCocaine Cowboys\u201d \u2014 of making a career off of \u201cslinging mud, which has even resulted in losing a defamation case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corben, who had not lost the defamation case against his movie-making company, in turn filed a Nov. 20 Bar complaint against Pardo Pope for allegedly defaming him.<\/p>\n

He told the Phoenix<\/a> at the time that his complaint was \u201cnot about the sins of the father, but about the lies of the daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n

When searching the Pardos family\u2019s Hialeah apartment at the time, Corben said, officers found a family dog named \u201cSatan,\u201d tattooed with a swastika, Polaroid photos of Pardo\u2019s victims, and a slew of anti-Black and anti-Jewish memorabilia.<\/p>\n

After his death, Pardo Pope lauded her father as a \u201cguiding light\u201d on social media, vowing to bring the \u201ckind of leadership\u201d she learned from her family to City Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cHappiest of Birthdays to this little girl\u2019s first true love \u2014 her Daddy. You would\u2019ve been 59 years young today. Missing you each and everyday, mi papi bello\u2026.my guiding light in the sky, my eternal best friend,\u201d she wrote in 2015, including a photo of him holding her as a baby.<\/p>\n

She signed it off with his final words on the execution table, \u201cAirborne forever, love your Michi girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This report first appeared on the website<\/a> of the Florida Phoenix, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to coverage of state government and politics from Tallahassee.<\/p>\n