Florida campaign finance laws prohibit candidates running for office of accepting cash donations in excess of $50.
Vice Mayor of Melbourne, Paul Alfrey, who is currently funning for Mayor of Melbourne has accepted several cash contributions up to 10 times over the limit.
Alfrey reported receiving a $500 contribution from fired ex-Melbourne Police Officer, Frank Carter. He’s recieved a total of $1,000 from Carter all-together.
Officer Frank Carter was arrested in 2010 as a result of an investigation by the FDLE, resident-agent-in-charge Wayne Ivey.
“He faces five felony charges of official misconduct and misdemeanor charges of falsifying records,” Ivey said. “We have been investigating him for the last two months.”
Ivey said Carter conducted traffic stops for infractions that the drivers did not commit, and subsequently wrote them tickets. According to information released by Melbourne police, the traffic stops and citations were made on “people of color.” The investigation began after a complaint made by a citizen, according to Melbourne police.
Dash cam video showed Carter writing bogus tickets to numerous, and exclusively black drivers during traffic stops.
Although reportedly fired from the Police Department, Carter states on his LinkedIn profile that he is a “highly decorated retired police officer.”
Similarly, Vice Mayor Alfrey makes the same claim in his official bio on the City of Melbourne’s website. Although records show that Alfrey had to resign in order to avoid termination after multiple investigations, and discipline for official misconduct.
Alfrey disputes this, and still claims to be officially retired from the Melbourne Police Department.
When questioned about the current contributions to his campaign from Carter, Alfrey stated it must be a typo, and he will correct it. He also reported receiving $250 in cash from another donor which is 5 times over the limit.
Alfrey is in a 4-way race for Melbourne Mayor. The other candidates are C.J. Johnson, Hazel Buggs, and Molly Tasker.
Robert Burns, not only were the charges dropped but the State of Florida Commission ruled all stops were legal and justified and allowed me to maintain my law enforcement certification. The State concluded the department politically targeted me as Union President for exercising a vote of no confidence that passed against the Chief of Police Don Carey. I receive full retirement from the City of Melbourne. Since I am a business man now and you are attacking me like you did the sanitizer company, in which you are being sued over, I will be contacting my attorneys who won the case for me regarding my police retirement tomorrow.