Acting on an arrest warrant from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, officers of the Miami-Dade Police Department today arrested Juan Mercado, 29, of Hialeah, on charges of bribery. Mercado was an assistant state attorney with the 20th Judicial Circuit.
The FDLE investigation showed that Mercado had a sexual relationship with a woman in exchange for offering to help with her pending criminal case in the 20th Judicial Circuit. The woman was being prosecuted for domestic battery, and Mercado offered to “make her case go away” in exchange for sex. Mercado was not the assigned prosecutor on the case, but did access records and provided information and advice to the woman.
Mercado was booked into the Miami-Dade Jail. The Office of the State Attorney, 12th Judicial Circuit, will prosecute the case.
