Never mind: Miami-Dade candidate drops request to seal records in her perjury case
A day after it became public, Miami-Dade County candidate Sophia Lacayo is backing off her effort to seal the records from a perjury charge tied to a prior run for office.
Lacayo’s lawyer Susy Ribero-Ayala said Friday the candidate decided to cancel next week’s court hearing on sealing her 2020 perjury case. Prosecutors charged her with lying about living in Sweetwater ahead of winning a seat on the city commission in 2019.
Prosecutors this week objected to sealing Lacayo’s perjury case, saying the public has a right to know about a candidate’s past offenses while in elected office.
The Miami Herald first reported on Lacayo’s petition to Miami-Dade County Court on Thursday.
“She doesn’t want to make an issue out of it,” Ribero-Ayala said in an interview. “It’s a very routine matter. I’m surprised the State Attorney even responded to this.”
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Lacayo is running to be Miami-Dade’s District 12 commissioner and succeed term-limited Jose “Pepe” Diaz. The other candidate in the race ahead of the Aug. 23 election is Doral Mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez.
Lacayo resigned her Sweetwater seat after a year in office. Police determined she lied about a prior address she used to meet the city’s two-year residency requirement for commission candidates. As part of her plea deal with prosecutors in 2020, Lacayo agreed to resign her seat and accept probation for a year.
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Ribero-Ayala said she began the paperwork needed to seal the case last year, once Lacayo’s probation expired.
While the request isn’t withdrawn, Ribero-Ayala said she’s asking a judge to cancel the planned July 7 hearing in Miami-Dade County Court with no plans to reschedule.
“Is this going to make a significant difference to voters? I don’t think so,” Ribero-Ayala said. “If it does make a difference, she wants to be an open book.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2022 at 1:39 PM.