Host for Romney event is a convicted drug dealer

• Yoorah wrote on 2012-08-14 05:15

  By By DAVID FISCHER – 4 hours ago
  
  MIAMI (AP) — Mitt Romney held a campaign event Monday evening at a Miami juice shop owned by a convicted cocaine trafficker.
  
  Romney appeared at El Palacio de los Jugos, which is owned by Reinaldo Bermudez. Court records show that Bermudez pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine in 1999 and served three years in federal prison.
  
  Appearing with Romney was Sen. Marco Rubio. Both men handed out juices to an excited crowd after making brief remarks. Romney was filming a campaign ad at the juice shop, aides said.
  
  The Romney campaign didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Phone calls placed by The Associated Press to the juice shop weren't answered.
  
  Bermudez told the Miami New Times that the Secret Service vetted everything about him when the Romney campaign asked to use his fresh fruit and vegetable stand and that they knew about his criminal record.
  
  "Here in Miami there are a lot people with money who have had problems with the law," Bermudez told the New Times. "Thankfully, we all have the opportunity in this country to re-enter society when we've done something wrong."
  
  In media reports in November 1997, Bermudez was identified as one of 12 people accused in a Colombian drug smuggling operation. The arrests followed a seven-month investigation led by the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
  
  Agents seized about 2,850 pounds of cocaine at three South Florida ports over several months.
  
  Agents first seized 430 pounds of cocaine at the Port of Palm Beach in July 1997 and then 117 pounds in late September at the Port of Miami. Those shipments were concealed in containers filled with fish imported from Trinidad, an island in the south Caribbean. The largest and final seizure came in late October at Port Everglades, where officials found 2,304 pounds of cocaine in a container of soap imported from Venezuela.
  
  Authorities learned of all three cocaine shipments through court-authorized wiretaps on four of the suspects' home, office and cellular telephones, according to media reports.
  
  As a convicted felon, Bermudez wouldn't be eligible to vote in Florida unless the governor and the Cabinet restore his rights.
  
  Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

  
  Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iyGzTMI43N4QjAOhf-Gyy3jc_SJA?docId=3e0d64964cc74c809905e36117b587fe
  
  I'm all for giving people the chance to make a honest living after serving their time, but hosting a political event?
  
  It doesn't really help Romney's image, lol.
• Krissyasaur wrote on 2012-08-14 06:28
  [SIZE="1"]how did i know this would happen to be about florida in some way
  we get all the druggies ;-;...
  
  but yeah he was already gonna lose unless he pulls a bush on us, which again
  florida will get all the blame for QQ[/SIZE]
• Akemii wrote on 2012-08-14 06:42
  lol this guy
• Xxazurekitex wrote on 2012-08-14 07:25
  He's probably trying to show America that he would forgive someones past so they could host an event for him. But I don't believe that nor do I believe that people should just single one man out because he used to be a convicted drug dealer. So what? Do any of them really care?
  
  No they dont. They just want to hurt Romney and his image.
  
  Let the man host the political event no one will even remember 1 month after elections end...
• Osayidan wrote on 2012-08-14 14:24
  On the political side, that's a horrible thing for his image. On the society side of things, nothing wrong with a guy turning over a new leaf, that was over 10 years ago. I hope people focus on the stupidity of the campaign rather than try to make this guy look like a criminal.
• Juno wrote on 2012-08-14 15:04
  This is just more hype to try to swing the voters that don't actually think about the issues. It's not like he was handing out cocaine or anything.
• Osayidan wrote on 2012-08-14 15:22
  I don't doubt that he would at least try to hand out cocaine if it would get him votes though.
• paladin wrote on 2012-08-14 21:34

  Quote from Osayidan;933451:

  On the political side, that's a horrible thing for his image. On the society side of things, nothing wrong with a guy turning over a new leaf, that was over 10 years ago. I hope people focus on the stupidity of the campaign rather than try to make this guy look like a criminal.

  
  
  this
  as a human its just him being kind
  as a politician it was bad idea
• RebeccaBlack wrote on 2012-08-15 01:42

  Quote from Xxazurekitex;933356:

  But I don't believe that nor do I believe that people should just single one man out because he used to be a convicted drug dealer. So what? Do any of them really care?
  
  No they dont. They just want to hurt Romney and his image.

  
  Was going to say this.
  
  He did something, went to jail for it and got out. It's over. He already took his punishment and lost some of his rights permanently. Now, there's no reason to treat him as anything less than the rest of us.
  
  But I suppose it makes for an interesting news story.
  
  Honestly, even if he was actively doing something bad, it would be pretty irrelevant as he is not Romney.
  
  I'll admit that sure, it was a pretty bad idea because people pay way too much attention to things that don't matter.
• Yoorah wrote on 2012-08-15 01:50
  Yeah, to make my point more clear here, I'm not blaming the ex-drug dealer. And I don't think the media is, either. Rather, it's about him being a pretty bizarre choice from a political campaign standpoint. Maybe all of their other options in the Miami area had worse histories. lmao
• RebeccaBlack wrote on 2012-08-15 02:00
  lol!
  
  He probably just made a dumb decision, being that elections are a popularity contest by nature. It's really no wonder to me that people lie constantly and then disappoint everyone when they get the chance to do what they really want.
• Sumpfkraut wrote on 2012-08-20 19:23
  Didn't expect this from Romney. Very good for once.
• Lolicon wrote on 2012-08-20 19:34
  I really couldn't care less.
  1. I live in Cali so a drug dealer is everyday news
  2. I dislike both candidates in the election. I'd prefer Romney but I'm still iffy about both of them.
• Hiccup wrote on 2012-08-21 05:39
  Pulling in the drug addicts vote eh Romney?