By Emily J. Minor
Former Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty’s life as a public servant ended with emotion and a bit of surprise in early June when she was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in federal prison, then whisked off that very morning to begin serving her time.
McCarty, 54, whose husband, Kevin, had already started his eight-month sentence in federal prison for failing to report his wife’s crimes, sat in court June 4, ramrod straight, her new dark hairdo a curiosity for the audience. A smattering of friends and family — including her brother, sister and her mother — were in the courtroom. But several attorneys said that McCarty had deliberately asked many casual friends to write the court instead of attending the sentencing hearing.
The former commissioner — who served 18 years at the county level and before that was a prominent and influential Delray Beach city commissioner — had pled guilty to federal charges connected with her taking favors from a company she then helped to win the bid to build a convention center hotel downtown West Palm Beach. The hotel was never built.
She also was accused of steering bond jobs to the company for which Kevin McCarty was the bond underwriter.
Quiet, poised and holding her hands one over the other as she sat beside her attorney, McCarty did stand before U.S. District Court Judge Donald Middlebrooks to make a brief statement. She spoke slowly, as though that might ward off her emotion. But the reality of the moment was too much. McCarty’s voice cracked and she reached for a tissue several times.
“This is obviously a very emotional day for me, so I’ve written down my thoughts so I can share them with you,” she told the judge.
McCarty said the charges, her resignation from the commission and her guilty plea had “humiliated and humbled” her.
“I never considered myself a criminal,” she said. “But I am one.”
The sentencing, which took just under an hour, ended when Middlebrooks gave McCarty the three-and-a-half-year sentence — less than the five years sought by federal prosecutors — but then ordered her into custody right then. He also ordered her to pay $100,000 in fines.
McCarty turned — in a bit of disbelief — to look at supporters who sat in the rows directly behind her, raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and gave her final hugs to family members. It was clear this timeline was not what she had expected.
She is the third county commissioner to fall from grace in recent years. Tony Masilotti and Warren Newell are each serving federal prison terms on federal corruption charges. Masilotti is serving five years and Newell was originally sentenced to the same, but his sentence was recently reduced to three years for cooperating with federal authorities in other investigations.
McCarty, though, was the only one of the three taken into custody the day of the sentencing. Masilotti and Newell each had a month to get their lives in order, and several friends said McCarty was expecting that same grace period.
Her attorney, David Bogenschutz, asked Middlebrooks to arrange for McCarty to serve at a federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas, but the judge said he wouldn’t “interfere” with that decision.
Before announcing his decision, Middlebrooks — also reading from a prepared statement — referred to the failings of Masilotti and Newell and called McCarty’s crimes “less blatant and more subtle.”
McCarty spent about a week at the county jail, and was then moved to the federal prison in Miami. That assignment was considered temporary until her final assignment from federal authorities.
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