Defiant in the face of a long-running state attorney probe once again in the news, Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones used her swearing in Thursday to condemn the ``wickedness'' of those who sit ``in high places.''

Standing on a podium before a packed house in a small auditorium in Liberty City's Charles Hadley Park, Spence-Jones brought the crowd to its feet telling her District 5 constituents, ``It's our time, D5, to stand up. We must say enough is enough.''

The comments came in response to renewed media questions this week over an ongoing criminal investigation into a family business she was involved in before winning office.

Her dramatic display Thursday came moments after an aide handed out a note saying the three-paragraph statement would be her only comments to the press so that her family and friends could enjoy the official launch of her second term.

``The matter that the state attorney's office is examining as it relates to me is not breaking news; this is an old story that is at least three years old. I have learned that as an elected official, we are under constant scrutiny,'' she said in the statement. ``I am not worried because I know I have done nothing wrong.''

But almost before the media had time to absorb the memo, Spence-Jones fought back, naming past black elected officials -- such as Arthur Teele Jr., Miller Dawkins and Barbara Carey-Shuler -- who had similarly faced criminal investigations.

``No longer will we stand by and allow for this public lynching. They don't know this nappy-headed child of God has her armor on,'' Spence-Jones said, sending the crowd into a frenzy and earning several standing ovations.

``For every level there's a different kind of devil. We know wickedness sits in high places.''

Spence-Jones won reelection to a second term last week with almost 83 percent of the vote in a three-person race. Her district includes Liberty City, Little Haiti and Overtown.

Spence-Jones, the commission's vice chairwoman and the head of the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, focused her campaign on improvements in Overtown, and is fighting for increased police protection in a district where violent crime is prevalent.

Under her watch, Northwest Third Avenue, one of her district's main corridors, has been spruced up, and now includes a farmer's market. Restaurants have been refurbished. A clothing and dry cleaning store recently opened.

But during her tenure, Spence-Jones also has been dogged by ethics inquiries and two separate corruption probes -- one still ongoing.

For years, public-corruption investigators with the Miami-Dade state attorney's office have been examining a series of Miami-Dade County grants to Karym Ventures, a business Spence-Jones founded with her family. Records show the company received $100,000 from the county, including $75,000 approved by former Miami-Dade Commissioner Barbara Carey-Shuler, a Spence-Jones ally.

Most of the payments to Karym Ventures were made before Spence-Jones was first elected in 2005. Spence-Jones is no longer an officer with the company.

Spence-Jones' pastor, the Rev. Gaston Smith, also told investigators that Spence-Jones helped orchestrate a separate $25,000 county grant to a nonprofit he created -- and later urged him to pay her an $8,000 consulting fee from the grant, records show. Smith is awaiting trial on grand theft charges after prosecutors accused him of misspending some of that grant money; he has pleaded not guilty.

Spence-Jones has long denied wrongdoing, and said the grant money for her family's business -- a cafe and spa -- was properly spent.

Earlier this year, Spence-Jones was cleared in another investigation of alleged influence peddling, after a developer hired Carey-Shuler and another Spence-Jones ally before a pending vote on the developer's condo project.

Spence-Jones and her attorney, Michael Band, said on Wednesday that they are confident she will be cleared in the Karym Ventures probe.

``I'm not even sure where this is coming from,'' she told The Miami Herald.

In office, Spence-Jones' voting record has basically aligned with the agenda of former Mayor Manny Diaz -- whom Spence-Jones once worked for as a City Hall staffer. She voted in favor of the new Florida Marlins ballpark under construction in Little Havana, and to build a $1 billion tunnel to the Port of Miami.

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