Michael Grieco
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Michael Christopher Grieco (born September 21, 1975) is an American attorney and politician. A
Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...
, Grieco served in the
Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
from 2018 to 2022, representing the 113th district.


Early life and education

Grieco was born in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
on September 21, 1975, and was raised on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
. He attended
American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...
in
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, receiving a
bachelor of arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
degree in 1997. In the same year, Grieco moved to
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
in order to attend the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
, where he received a
juris doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
degree in 1999.


Early career

After having been accepted into the
Florida Bar The Florida Bar is the integrated, or unified bar organization for the state of Florida. It is the third largest such bar in the United States.
, Grieco began his career as an assistant state attorney of
Miami-Dade County Miami-Dade County () is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most-populous coun ...
, serving under
Katherine Fernandez Rundle Katherine Fernandez Rundle (born March 1, 1950) is the current State Attorney for Miami-Dade County in Florida. Education Rundle received a B.A. and M.A. in Criminology from the University of Miami and an LL.B. from the Faculty of Law, Univers ...
. In 2006, Grieco moved to
Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean an ...
and began his own private practice as a
criminal defense attorney A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various j ...
, founding the law firm Michael Grieco Law Center.


Political career


Miami Beach city commissioner

In 2013, Grieco ran for the Miami Beach city commission, running in District 2 against incumbent Jorge Exposito. In the nonpartisan primary held on November 5, 2013, Grieco received 35% of the vote, placing second behind Exposito, who received 45% of the vote. However, since no candidate received a majority of the vote, a runoff election was held on November 19, 2013, in which Grieco narrowly defeated Exposito, receiving 54% of the vote to Exposito's 46%.


Campaign for Miami Beach mayor, 2017

In
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
, Grieco ran for mayor of Miami Beach to replace term-limited mayor Philip Levine. Greico was an early frontrunner, alongside former
state senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...
Dan Gelber Daniel Saul Gelber (born November 26, 1960) is an American politician and former prosecutor. He served in the Florida Legislature from 2000 to 2010 and was the Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Florida in 2010. From 2017 to 2023, he ...
. However, on June 6, 2017, the ''
Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by McClatchy, The McClatchy Company and headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Founded in 1903, it is the fifth-largest newspaper in Florida, serving Miami-Dade, Broward County, Fl ...
'' reported that a
political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...
named People for Better Leaders raised over $200,000 for the mayoral election. Grieco initially denied any association with the PAC, and called the ''Miami Herald'' investigation
fake news Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information (misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and hoaxes) claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person ...
; when confronted by reporters, Grieco vehemently stated, "You can look right into my soul," while denying the allegations. However, the PAC was found to be tied to him via his handwriting on documents, and a string of donors, including high-profile Miami Beach
vendor In a supply chain, a vendor, supplier, provider or a seller, is an enterprise that contributes goods or services. Generally, a supply chain vendor manufactures inventory/stock items and sells them to the next link in the chain. Today, these term ...
s, developers, and
lobbyists Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...
, who testified that Grieco solicited their donations. The PAC was founded and led by Brian Abraham, a
Coral Gables Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248. Cora ...
strip club A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...
manager, and Brian George, a
bankrupted Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
accountant, both associates of Grieco. Rundle, the Miami-Dade state attorney, began a criminal corruption probe regarding Grieco's association with the PAC. In late July 2017, Grieco dropped out of the mayoral election, opting instead to run for re-election to the city commission. However, on September 25, Grieco dropped his bid for re-election as well. During the investigation, prosecutors discovered that one of the people who donated to Grieco's PAC was Petter Hagland, a Norwegian millionaire who donated $25,000 to the PAC. The donation, made in the name of Tony Rodriguez-Tellaheche, a Miami Beach realtor and Grieco associate, violated both Florida law, which makes it illegal to donate money to a political campaign in another person's name, and federal
campaign finance Campaign financealso called election finance, political donations, or political financerefers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Donors and recipients include individuals, corpor ...
law, which disallows
foreign national A foreign national is any person (including an organization) who is not a national of a specific country. ("The term 'person' means an individual or an organization.") For example, in the United States and in its territories, a foreign nationa ...
s from financially contributing to American elections. On October 27, 2017, Grieco resigned from the Miami Beach city commission. Later that day, he appeared in court and pleaded
no contest ''Nolo contendere'' () is a type of legal plea used in some jurisdictions in the United States. It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. It is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an ...
to the misdemeanor charge of violating campaign finance law. Judge Samuel Slom sentenced Grieco to 1 year of
probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...
, barred him from holding elected office during his probation period, and ordered him to pay a fine of $6,000. On May 1, 2018, Grieco's probation was terminated 6 months early.


Florida state representative

On May 4, 2018, just three days after the end of his probation, Grieco announced his candidacy for the 113th district in the
Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...
, seeking to replace retiring Democrat David Richardson. Grieco easily defeated Republican J. P. Parker, a lawyer, in the
general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
receiving 62% of the vote to Parker's 38. In May 2020, allegations arose that while serving as the defense attorney for
Quinton Dunbar Quinton Disheen Dunbar (born July 22, 1992) is an American former professional football cornerback. He played college football as a wide receiver at Florida before signing with the Washington Redskins as an undrafted free agent in 2015, where he ...
, a
Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...
cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...
, regarding an
armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...
charge, Grieco allegedly paid off the victims and witnesses. Grieco denied these allegations, and the
Miramar Police Department The Miramar Police Department is a municipal police agency responsible for law enforcement within the city of Miramar, Florida. The department is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies and the Commission for ...
and the
Florida Department of Law Enforcement The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is a state-wide investigative law enforcement agency within the state of Florida. The department formally coordinates eight boards, councils, and commissions. FDLE's duties, responsibilities, and ...
began an investigation regarding the alleged
witness tampering Witness tampering is the act of attempting to improperly influence, alter or prevent the testimony of witnesses within criminal or civil proceedings. Witness tampering and reprisals against witnesses in organized crime cases have been a difficulty ...
. Both agencies found no clear evidence that Grieco had paid off the victims. However, in July 2020, the Florida Bar opened an investigation into Grieco regarding both the witness tampering allegations and the previous campaign finance charge, which could lead to Grieco being
disbarred Disbarment, also known as striking off, is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking their law license or admission to practice law. Disbarment is usually a punishment for unethical or criminal conduc ...
. Grieco ran for re-election in
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
, and won a second term unopposed.


Campaign for State Senate

On November 14, Grieco filed to run for Senate District 37 likely going against incumbent
Ileana Garcia Ileana Garcia is a Republican politician from Florida, who serves as a member of the Florida Senate. Early life The daughter of Cuban exiles, Garcia grew up in Florida. Her career was in media, working in both television and radio. Garcia is a ...
. The district will shrink to cover only a portion of Miami-Dade County’s coast, including parts of Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Sweetwater and West Miami. On June 1, Grieco posted on social media that he was dropping out of the race for SD-37 citing a lack of funds from various organizations and a reluctance from these groups to back his campaign. Grieco also stated he would not run for another term for his house seat.


Campaign for Miami Beach mayor, 2023

In 2023, Grieco made a second attempt to become the Mayor of Miami Beach, after his first run in 2017. However, he was unsuccessful in the mayoral race, receiving about 20% of the vote. During his campaign, Grieco faced criticism for his past campaign finance scandal and a 90-day suspension recommendation for his law license. Furthermore, Grieco's campaign was also affected by the revelation of a recent incident in 2023 where he left a loaded gun unattended at a local park, as well as a 2020 incident where his gun went missing from a rental car.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grieco, Michael Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Living people 1975 births Politicians from Miami Beach, Florida 21st-century members of the Florida Legislature