Former Plantation Mayor Lynn Stoner charged with criminal misconduct
MIAMI - Former Plantation Mayor Lynn Stoner turned herself in at the Broward County Main Jail Tuesday after she was criminally charged with misconduct that took place while she served as an elected official.
Prosecutors said Stoner faces a charge of official misconduct, a third-degree felony, one count of falsification of records, a first-degree misdemeanor, and two counts of influencing a building official, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Stoner was released on her own recognizance while the case goes through the criminal justice system, officials announced.
Here's what prosecutors said led to Stoner's arrest:
"Between April and September of 2020, Stoner took a number of illegal actions to benefit a developer and his companies and projects in the city, the investigation found. Those actions included Stoner issuing a letter from the office of the Plantation mayor that falsely stated that Strata Group, LLC had successfully cleared up code violations and fines on one of its projects. This was false and the goal was to help the developer obtain a loan, according to court records. This action involved official misconduct and falsification of records by Stoner."
"In April 2020, Stoner "attempted to coerce, trick, persuade, or otherwise influence" a Plantation building official to "do her a favor" and write an official letter stating that Strata Group's building code violations and fines had been resolved and/or to eliminate those violations. When the building official refused, Stoner issued the letter herself, resulting in the official misconduct charge."
"Between July and September of that year, Stoner "threatened, coerced, tricked, persuaded, or otherwise influenced" the same city building official to try to get him to allow the developer to do construction work without a proper permit on a project known as Pixl."
Stoner could be facing up to eight years in prison.