In a word, he's fucked.
Bad times for Cedrick Thomas. (Comments)
July 28, 2012 5:08 pm
RIVIERA BEACH --
[cleeng_content id="804593431" description="Why stop now? It's just getting interesting!" price="0.99" referral="0.10"]We’ve gotten an update regarding the investigation into Riviera Beach Councilmember Cedrick Thomas, and in a word, he’s fucked.
But, before we get to that good news (aka sucks to be him), let’s journey back to 2008.
Nightclub owner Michael Goelz says he received an unusual request from Cedrick Thomas when he requested a meeting about his plan to take over the city marina’s popular tiki bar.
Goelz’s offer was significantly higher than the city’s deal with the current leaseholder of the Tiki Waterfront Sea Grill at the Riviera Beach Municipal Marina. “That’s when [Thomas] said, ‘We need to meet in a place where you’re going to be able to get naked, so I can check to make sure you’re not wearing a wire and we can talk about the tiki bar,’” Goelz says.
Bothered then by Thomas’s nonsense, famed activist Fane Lozman and Goelz spoke with the FBI. Goelz detailed cash bribes — taken from the tiki bar register — being paid to Thomas. All for naught, as the duo was told “if this ever happens again, come back and see us.”
Loading ...Those conversations occurred years ago, and since then it’s been pretty much business as usual in Riviera Beach — Lozman continues to press forward and Thomas’s thieving ways go mostly unchecked.
Mostly unchecked until 2012 that is.
According to our sources, separate SAO and OIG investigations are deep diving into Thomas — and others around City Hall — looking into possible “crimes of the economic variety.” Also, the Department of Revenue, Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, and IRS are said to have become involved.
Economic crimes are public corruption offenses, fraud against the government, and money laundering cases.
Or, taking a bribe.
When learning of this fortuitous turn of events, Lozman informs MAOS, “With the resignation of the Fearless Wonderboy (Michael McAuliffe), the citizens of Riviera Beach finally stand a chance. We’re seeing the payoff.”
***
MAOS proudly acknowledges our friendship with Lozman and recall his unwavering steadfastness in the face of adversity.
Lozman brings the fight to the other guy; a foe with unlimited resources and odds heavily stacked in their favor; not to mention investigative agencies paralyzed over fear of political fallout.
Often arrested for speaking out, Lozman had his houseboat seized and destroyed — his lawsuit over which is to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court this coming October.
He is, by all accounts, the quintessential gadfly.
If you kill a man like me, you will injure yourselves more than you will injure me,” because his role was that of a gadfly, “to sting people and whip them into a fury, all in the service of truth.”
- Socrates
Dan Chang of the Miami Herald once wrote about MAOS’s efforts, “Who says you can’t take on City Hall?” To Chang we say, Lozman can.
* We’ve filed numerous criminal complaints against Thomas.[/cleeng_content]
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