Trial begins for ex-Hallandale Beach mayor accused of taking dirty campaign cash

When then-Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper walked into a local diner in October of 2012 in the thick of a reelection campaign, she didn’t know her conversation was being recorded by an undercover FBI agent.

During the meal, Cooper told the agent, who was posing as an out-of-town developer, and Alan Koslow, a prominent South Florida lobbyist, that they had been great for her campaign.

In a jam-packed courtroom in Broward County Circuit Court on Tuesday, state prosecutors showed jurors a video of the conversation, saying Cooper was referring to an illegal scheme to funnel excess, secret money into her campaign.

Cooper, who served as the mayor of Hallandale Beach for 13 years until her arrest in 2018, faces charges of official misconduct, campaign contribution violations, conspiracy to commit such violations, and soliciting a campaign contribution in a government building.

Jurors heard opening arguments Tuesday. Then witness testimony began in the case.

Jack VanderStoep, the now-retired FBI agent who had posed as a developer, said Cooper was praising him and Koslow at the 2012 meeting for funneling money to her campaign.

“My understanding is she was thankful for the $5,000 contribution we gave her,” VanderStoep said.

The legal limit for campaign contributions in Hallandale Beach was $500 at the time.

The recording was one of a string of audio and video clips shown to the jury Tuesday, all of which were created during an FBI investigation into Koslow’s lobbying tactics around Broward County.

Koslow was sentenced to one year in prison in 2016 after he spent three years as a confidential informant for the government. He wasn’t aware of the FBI investigation in 2012 and ultimately pleaded guilty to money laundering in an unrelated case that involved counterfeit Viagra and narcotics.

As part of a plea deal, Koslow agreed to testify against Cooper and is expected to take the witness stand during her trial, which could last a week or more.

The FBI handed Cooper’s case to the Broward State Attorney’s Office in 2017.

During opening arguments Tuesday, Assistant State Attorney Catherine Maus told jurors that Cooper knew she was participating in an illegal scheme.

At a meeting with two undercover agents, who were posing as developers pursuing a local project, Koslow said they could give $500 to Cooper’s campaign in exchange for support for the project, prosecutors said.

“Add a zero,” Cooper replied, meaning she wanted $5,000, according to prosecutors.

The fake developers later gave Koslow $8,000 stuffed into a Dunkin’ Donuts bag, prosecutors say. Then, to disguise that the campaign money was coming from the developers, Koslow had a group of teachers at a school for families of Russian descent, which was run by Koslow’s client, write checks to Cooper’s campaign.

Maus said Cooper knew the checks were being diverted to hide their true source.

“She knew that the undercover agent’s money came through the Russian checks,” Maus said, later playing a video in which an FBI agent told Cooper there were “a bunch of Russian names” on the checks.

In another 2012 recording played for the jury, Koslow told an undercover agent that Cooper “laughed and had a big smile” when he gave her an envelope that prosecutors say had 20 checks totaling $5,000. Koslow said he told her the money actually came from him and the developers.

With dozens of Cooper’s local supporters in the courtroom Tuesday, Cooper’s attorney painted a much different picture. Attorney Larry Davis said Cooper’s arrest was a “consolation prize” for the government after Koslow wore a wire for years without netting any arrests of elected officials in Broward.

Plus, Davis argued, the evidence that Cooper understood the contributions to be illegal is flimsy. Koslow claimed in a statement to the state attorney’s office that Cooper knew about the scheme to route developer money through a Russian school, but Koslow can’t be trusted, Davis said.

He pointed to Koslow’s well-known cocaine habits at the time and said he was desperate for cash, adding that he may have been pressured by the state attorney’s office to say what they wanted to hear about the mayor’s knowledge.

“I’m gonna ask you to use your common sense,” Davis told the jury. “The allegations in this case kind of begin and end with Koslow.”

Davis also presented evidence to suggest Koslow tried to conceal parts of the scheme from Cooper. In one recorded conversation, Koslow asked the undercover agents not to give cash to Cooper directly.

“He doesn’t want her to know where it’s coming from,” one of the FBI agents said to the other agent in a conversation moments later.

Davis told the jury that Koslow “did everything to make sure Cooper didn’t know” about the scheme.

The case, Davis said, is a “story of two different people.”

“Mayor Cooper has devoted her life to her family and to the service of her community,” he said. “Alan Koslow has devoted his life to the service of himself.”

The case is proceeding with just six jurors instead of the usual six and two alternates after two jurors were dismissed Tuesday.

Circuit Judge Martin S. Fein agreed to dismiss one juror who previously said he had a scheduling conflict and then said he got a flat tire en route to the courthouse Tuesday morning.

Another juror raised his hand when the judge asked if anyone had seen media coverage of the case, saying he saw a Channel 10 story about the trial Monday night and saw other coverage via Facebook.

Cooper’s attorney moved to have the juror dismissed and Judge Fein agreed.

This story was originally published November 19, 2019 at 7:32 PM.