By Dessalines Ferdinand
Jean Rodrigue Marcellus, a former North Miami Councilman arrested last August for fraudulently acquiring over $125,000 in COVID-19 relief funds, changed his plea from not guilty to guilty during his court hearing on Friday, February 9, in Miami-Dade.
Marcellus, disqualified from the 2015 mayoral race in North Miami after his qualifying fee check bounced due to insufficient funds, served as the ‘president’ of a sham trucking company, Palace Trucking, at the time of the fraud. The Port St. Lucie registered LLC was administratively dissolved in September 2021.
Court documents obtained by Le Floridien reveal Marcellus submitted two false PPP loan applications for Palace Trucking through an Atlanta, Georgia-based financial institution’s online portal.
He misrepresented his role and the company’s operations for the years 2018, 2019, and 2020, falsely claiming that Palace Trucking had been operational for two years and was still in business.
Furthermore, Marcellus submitted fraudulent documents, including a falsified Internal Revenue Service Form (Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements), among others. This deception led the Atlanta financial institution to approve a PPP loan, depositing approximately $127,715 into Palace Trucking’s bank account. Marcellus then transferred these funds to an account at a Melbourne, Florida credit union through interstate wire transmission.
The indictment (Case No. 23-20305-CR-BLOOM/OTAZO-REYES) highlights that Marcellus used the loan proceeds for personal gain, including issuing fake “payroll” checks to himself and another individual falsely claimed as an employee.
On August 2, 2023, Marcellus appeared before Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres, facing charges of wire fraud and money laundering. Represented by Public Defender Eboni Blenman, he was released on a $200,000 Personal Surety Bond posted by a family friend, Cergine Cator-Eusebe, who also acted as a surety on the bond.
Suffering from Sarcoidosis, a condition that causes shortness of breath, Marcellus has struggled to maintain employment and keep up with mortgage payments. To prevent foreclosure, his public defender requested a modification of his bond conditions to allow the sale of his home. The court approved this request, allowing Marcellus to reside with Ms. Cator-Eusebe in Miami Gardens.
On January 8, 2024, a notice was filed for a plea change hearing set for February 9, marking Marcellus’s shift from not guilty to guilty, a move that could lead to a reduced sentence under federal sentencing guidelines.
The Hearing on February 9
At the hearing, the former North Miami councilman agreed to plead guilty to Count 1 of the indictment, charging him with wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida agreed to seek dismissal of Count 2, money laundering, after sentencing.
During the hearing, the defendant acknowledged that the Court would compute an advisory sentence under the Sentencing Guidelines, with the applicable guidelines determined by the Court, partly based on the results of a presentence investigation by the Court’s probation office. This investigation will commence after the guilty plea has been entered.
Mr. Marcellus understands and acknowledges that the Court may impose a statutory maximum term of imprisonment of up to 20 years, followed by a term of supervised release of up to 3 years. In addition to imprisonment and supervised release, the Court may impose a fine of up to $250,000 and may order forfeiture and restitution.
The sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 3, 2024, at 11:00 AM in the Miami Division, 400 North Miami Avenue, before Judge Beth Bloom, Courtroom 10-2.
