Former Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion, Jr. optimistically looks toward the future
Despite no longer being in public office, former Broward County Mayor Josephus Eggelletion, Jr. will still be actively involved in the political process. His immediate plans call for him TO assisT U. S. Congressman Alcee Hastings in his re-election bid for the United States House of Representatives in the upcoming general election this November.
By Charles Moseley
Former Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion, Jr., once was one of Broward County’s most powerful political figures having served as its first African American Mayor from 2006 to 2007. Prior to being elected as a county commissioner in 2000 he also served on the City of Lauderdale Lakes City Council for three years and in Florida’s state legislature for eight years. Today he is in the process of picking up the pieces of a life torn apart by political scandal.
Eggelletion pleaded guilty to charges of money-laundering conspiracy and failing to report income on his tax returns. Eggelletion said recently that rather than subject his family to a long and arduous trial he agreed to accept the charges leveled against him.
After an exhaustive federal investigation including an undercover FBI sting operation, Eggelletion found himself embroiled in one of Broward County’s most highly publicized political corruption cases in recent years.
Eggelletion joined a slew of Broward County elected officials including former school board members, a Broward County sheriff, and several members of local city councils who came under investigation and were successfully prosecuted and convicted on a slew of criminal offenses.
In 2010 Eggelletion pled guilty to charges that he accepted cash payments and a golf club membership from Bro-ward developers Bruce and Shawn Chait. On May 14, 2010 he turned himself in at the prison and he was released from the minimum security facility on Wednesday morning, July 18, 2012.
Eggelletion agreed to share some of his thoughts with the Westside Gazette Newspaper with the hope that he might help others who might be facing adversity in their lives. He said that perhaps by sharing his experience someone reading about them might choose to make better decisions in life. He also strongly believed that if an individual makes mistakes in life that they should learn from their mistake and move on in a positive direction.
