By Dessalines Ferdinand
NORTH MIAMI — Jean Rodrigue Marcellus, a former North Miami Councilman arrested last August for fraudulently acquiring over $125,000.00 in COVID-19 relief funds, is expected to change his plea from not guilty to guilty during a court hearing set for this coming Friday, February 9, at 11:00 AM in Miami-Dade.
Marcellus, who was disqualified from the 2015 mayoral race in North Miami because his check to pay the qualifying fee was returned due to insufficient funds, was the ‘president’ of Palace Trucking when he committed the fraud. The Port St Lucie registered LLC was administratively dissolved in September 2021.
According to the court document obtained by Le Floridien, Jean Rodrigue Marcellus submitted two false and fraudulent PPP loan applications on behalf of Palace Trucking through the online portal of a financial institution headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
As part of the scheme, Marcellus filed documents that named him as the manager and registered agent of Palace Truck’s annual report for the years 2018, 2019, and 2020. Subsequently, Jean Rodrigue Marcellus opened a bank account for Palace Trucking at a credit union headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, submitting a bank account application that falsely stated Palace Trucking had been in operation for two years and was currently operating.
Also, in furtherance of the scheme, Marcellus submitted fraudulent information and documentation in support of the PPP loan applications, including a falsified Internal Revenue Service Form (Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements), among other things. He falsely and fraudulently stated Palace Trucking’s number of employees and monthly payroll.
As a consequence of the false and fraudulent PPP loan applications submitted as part of this scheme, the financial institution in Atlanta approved a PPP loan for Palace Trucking and deposited approximately $127,715 in loan proceeds into Palace Trucking’s institutional bank account. Following this, the former Haitian-American North Miami councilman transferred the funds to the company account at the Credit Union in Melbourne via interstate wire transmission.
According to the indictment document (Case No. 23-20305-CR-BLOOM/OTAZO-REYES), signed by both the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Markenzy Lapointe, and his Assistant Zachary A. Keller, the 63-year-old Haitian-American used the loan proceeds to enrich himself and further the conspiracy. This included issuing sham “payroll” checks to himself and another individual falsely claimed to be an “employee” of Palace Trucking.
On August 2, 2023, the former North Miami District 4 Councilman made his initial appearance before Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres on an indictment charging him with wire fraud and money laundering. The Office of the Federal Public Defender appointed Public Defender Eboni Blenman to represent him, and on the same day, Mr. Marcellus was released after a family friend, Cergine Cator-Eusebe, posted a $200,000.00 Personal Surety Bond.
In addition to the mandatory bond conditions, Mr. Marcellus was required to surrender any passports or travel documents, refrain from obtaining new ones, report to pretrial services as directed, and abstain from selling his home. Furthermore, Mr. Marcellus’s family friend, Cergine Cator-Eusebe, served as a surety (cosigner) on the bond.
The former councilman, who suffers from a serious health condition called Sarcoidosis that causes shortness of breath, has been facing challenges in maintaining employment. He primarily relies on modest retirement benefits to support himself and has been struggling to make mortgage payments, putting his home at risk of foreclosure.
Therefore, on October 25, 2023, the Office of the Federal Public Defender filed a motion on behalf of Mr. Marcellus, requesting that the Court modify his bond conditions to permit the sale of his home to avoid foreclosure and to change his residence. The following day, the Court granted this request. Mr. Marcellus would reside with Ms. Cergine Cator-Eusebe, the family friend who cosigned on his bond, at her residence in Miami Gardens. His Public Defender, Eboni Blenman, has confirmed with Ms. Cator-Eusebe that the former Councilman is welcome to reside at her residence.
Mr. Marcellus’ defense counsel has also communicated with her supervising probation officer, who advised that she did not oppose the requested modifications.
On January 8, 2024, his public defender filed a notice on his behalf of a change of Plea Hearing set for this coming Friday (February 9) at 11:00 AM in the Miami Division, 400 North Miami Avenue, Courtroom 10-2, before Judge Beth Bloom.
It seems that Jean Rodrigue Marcellus will change his initial plea from not guilty to guilty, a process known as accepting responsibility. According to federal sentencing guidelines, this action effectively concludes the trial procedure, and the judge proceeds to the sentencing stage. If a defendant takes this step early enough—before the trial or up until the first witness is called—they are entitled to a reduction in their sentence for an early plea.
Wire fraud is a federal crime, and a conviction is very serious. If found guilty of wire fraud, you could face up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. The penalty becomes even more severe, with a potential sentence of 30 years, for crimes involving federal disaster relief funds or a financial institution.
