State attorney office declined Arroyo case on grounds of 'insufficient evidence'

Sarasota City Manager Marlon Brown on Tuesday received written notice from the Florida State Attorney’s Office of the 12th Judicial Circuit, stating that it has declined to open a case against City Commissioner Erik Arroyo regarding his involvement in a charity he co-founded, the Sarasota City Foundation.

The brief letter from the office of State Attorney Amira Fox dated Aug. 3 read that agency review was denied on an allegation of failure to register a charity, citing insufficient evidence. According to state records, the foundation was registered in the state on Dec. 3, 2021, and showed no activity for nearly a year. A letter from the Internal Revenue Service to the foundation dated Oct. 11, 2022, confirms its application and eligibility as a nonprofit with the federal government, and shows an effective date as the date when it was registered with the state.

“We got a notice of agency review disposition. They didn't even open a case against him at the state attorney level,” said attorney Stefan Campagna, who represented Arroyo. “I would like to say that these were honest and concerned individuals and that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement was trying to take care of taxpayers and protect the community, but from the beginning it’s been very clear that these were baseless allegations by a disgruntled local attorney who wanted in on some deal that was occurring.”

Campagna declined to identify the attorney to whom he was referring to or the nature of the "deal."

The investigation was tied to an inquiry into the proposed One Park development in The Quay, which was reopened by the FDLE after initially being closed on a report that a business owned by one of the project’s investors, MoneyShow, donated to the foundation at the Mayor’s Ball, which was hosted by Arroyo in fall 2022. 

After quickly clearing Kim Githler and MoneyShow, the FDLE turned its attention to Arroyo on unrelated allegations. 

“From the legal side of it, it seems FDLE has wasted time and resources pursuing what has been kind of manipulated to almost serve a political function more so than what they're supposed to be doing, which is protecting the community from pretty severe crimes,” Campagna said. "I've worked multiple matters with the FDLE before. It's disappointing to see them, or at least this agent, take this approach.”

Campagna characterized the written notice as typically internal.

“These are commonly generated by the state attorney's office,” he said. “I have been a criminal defense attorney for a decade and we normally never get these. I'm sure with it being a local government agency and because this was provided to the Sarasota manager, maybe there was more impetus to do so.”