Former Broward School Board member Stephanie Kraft was jailed Thursday after a jury found her guilty of official misconduct in a public corruption case.
The verdict stunned Kraft, who went from tears of joy to anguish while the jury’s decision was being read in Broward Circuit Judge Matthew I. Destry’s courtroom. Kraft, 58, began crying when she was found not guilty of unlawful compensation and bribery, but her mood quickly changed when she heard the guilty verdict on the official misconduct charge.
She was also found not guilty of criminal conspiracy.
Destry immediately ordered Kraft held in custody pending sentencing Dec. 22.
“My mother!” Kraft said through tears.
Defense lawyer Ken Padowitz urged the judge to reconsider jailing Kraft, explaining that the defendant’s mother is in hospice care and not expected to live much longer.
Destry expressed his regrets but did not change his mind.
Kraft’s husband, Mitchell Kraft, 62, was in the courtroom when the verdict was read and tried to comfort his wife as she was handcuffed and her jewelry removed before being escorted by deputies to the Broward Main Jail.
She faces up to five years in prison.
A School Board member representing northwest Broward County from 1998 until 2010, Kraft was bounced from her job when prosecutors accused her of helping a father-son development team that had hired her husband on a controversial housing project in Tamarac.
The accusations were leveled by the developers, Bruce and Shawn Chait, who testified against her and also brought accusations against four other elected officials. The Chaits pleaded guilty in 2010 to unlawful compensation charges. Both served probation terms, with Shawn Chait, the son, expected to emerge without a criminal record as long as he continues cooperating with prosecutors and stays out of trouble with the law.
According to trial testimony, the Chaits hired Mitchell Kraft as a consultant on their housing development — knowing he was married to Stephanie Kraft and hoping she could help them win a $500,000 break on fees they would have to pay to the school district.
Testimony and documents revealed that Kraft succeeded in getting the item on a July 2007 School Board agenda, over the objection of staff members who said the project had not gone through the proper vetting procedure for approval.
When the item came up for a vote, instead of notifying her colleagues that she had a conflict of interest, Kraft walked out of the room.
Prosecutor Catherine Maus portrayed Kraft’s actions as a calculated attempt to get the item passed with as little scrutiny as possible. The project was placed on the board’s “consent agenda” — items approved as a formality unless a board member singles it out for discussion. It passed, but the Chait’s $500,000 break was later rescinded. The project was never built.
Mitchell Kraft, who is facing related charges and will be tried separately, was paid $10,000, according to prosecutors. Defense lawyer Padowitz disputed that amount.
One more public official is waiting to be tried in connection with the Chaits. Former Tamarac Mayor Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco is accused of accepting $27,000 in campaign help from the Chaits in exchange for her support of the same development that resulted in the charges against the Krafts.
Tamarac Commissioners Patricia Atkins-Grad and Marc Sultanoff were also charged in connection with the Chaits. Atkins-Grad was acquitted of corruption charges in 2012, but her political career was irreparably damaged. Sultanoff died before his case could be resolved.
Former Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion pleaded guilty to corruption charges in 2010 and served more than two years in prison.
rolmeda@sunsentinel.com, 954-356-4457, Twitter @SSCourts and @rolmeda
