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{{Short description|American woman city commissioner}}{{Infobox officeholder
[[File:Charlotte Durante-Photo-1986.jpg|thumb|Charlotte G. Durante. 1986]]
| image = Charlotte Durante-Photo-1986 (cropped).jpg
'''Charlotte Gilmore Durante''' ('''Charlotte G. Durante''') ('''aka Mama Charlotte''') (born April 19, 1944, in [[Forkland, Alabama]]) was elected in 1978 the first African American woman City Commissioner in Delray Beach, Florida. The City of [[Delray Beach]] is located in the southern part of the east coast of the State of [[Florida]] in [[Palm Beach County]].
| caption = Durante in 1986
| alma_mater = {{Plainlist|
* [[Tuskegee Institute]]
* [[Pennsylvania State University]] {{Small|([[Master of Public Health|MPH]])}}
}}
| term = 1978–1982
| office = Member of the {{nowrap|[[Delray Beach]] City Commission}}
}}


'''Charlotte Gilmore Durante''' was elected in 1978 as the first African American woman [[City Commissioner]] in [[Delray Beach, Florida|Delray Beach]], a city in [[Palm Beach County]], [[Florida]]. She served until 1982.<ref name="called-key">{{Cite news
==Early life==
| newspaper = The Miami Herald
Charlotte Gilmore Durante was born and raised on a cotton farm in Forkland, Alabama in Greene County. Her mother was Claretter Bryant Gilmore. In Alabama, they were members of the Old Green Oak Baptist Church in Forkland. She is the youngest daughter of 8 siblings born to their devout Christian mother Claretter Gilmore. Charlotte Gilmore Durante was named after her grandmother. Durante comes from a Civil Rights Family in Alabama. Her nephew is Dr. Rev. Thomas Gilmore who was the first African American Sheriff in Greene County, Alabama during racial strife of the [[Civil Rights Movement]]. Dr. Gilmore served as one of the aides to [[Dr. Martin Luther King]] and King's [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]]. A film starring [[Lou Gossett, Jr.]] was produced in the 1970s about Dr. Thomas Gilmore's feats. The movie was released under two different titles: [[The Sheriff Without a Gun]]; and [[The Man Who Stands Alone]]. Dr. Gilmore and Durante were both raised on the same cotton farm by Claretter Gilmore.
| title = 'Mismanagement' issue called key to Delray vote
| author = Mike Capuzzo
| page = [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106005501/mismanagement-issue-called-key-to/ C1], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106005589/mayor-elect-is-surprised-by-size-of/ C2]
| date = 1982-03-04
| via = Newspapers.com
}}</ref> In 2010, she was arrested on charges of defrauding Haitian immigrants out of 1.8 million [[US dollar|dollars]] in a [[Ponzi scheme]], in order to purchase a permanent location for the [[Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History]], which her daughter ran.<ref>{{Cite web
| url = https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/state/2010/05/27/former-florida-commissioner-arrested-in-ponzi-scheme/31759213007/
| accessdate = 2022-07-21
| title = Former Florida commissioner arrested in Ponzi scheme
| author = <!-- not stated -->
| date = 2010-05-27
| publisher = The Associated Press
| via = The Gainesville Sun
}}</ref> Convicted on a portion of the original charges in 2013, she completed her sentence in 2016.<ref name="weeks-away">{{Cite news
| url = https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/palm-beach/fl-delray-charlotte-durante-case-appeal-20160527-story.html
| access-date = 2022-07-21
| title = Convicted ex-Delray commissioner weeks away from finishing prison sentence; seeks new trial
| author = Marc Freeman
| date = 2016-05-30
| newspaper = South Florida Sun-Sentinel
}}</ref>


== Early life and education ==
==Education==
Charlotte Gilmore Durante excelled in school and attended the historically black college [[Tuskegee Institute]] where she earned a Bachelor's degree in nutrition. While at Tuskegee, Durante participated in the [[Selma to Montgomery marches]] which protested the harsh [[Jim Crow]] laws that plagued Alabama. She pledged the [[Zeta Phi Beta]] Sorority at Tuskegee Institute. Following her graduation from Tuskegee, Durante earned a Master's Degree in Nutrition from [[Penn State University]].


Durante studied at the [[Tuskegee Institute]] and later obtained a master's degree in [[public health]] from [[Penn State]].<ref name="blends-family">{{Cite news
==Professional Career & Community Involvement==
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106000946/multi-career-woman-blends-family-jobs/
In 1967, Charlotte Gilmore Durante married Kenneth Durante and they made Delray Beach, Florida their permanent home where they raised their two children named Tony and Lori. Charlotte's husband was formerly a [[traveling waiter]] during the era of [[legal segregation]] where he waited tables at Whites-only resorts in the Northeast and exclusive White's only restaurants in Delray Beach and [[Boca Raton]], Florida. The "traveling-waiter-circuit" consisted of African American men who traveled from coast to coast each season working as waiters at upscale restaurants during segregation. Once settled in Delray Beach, the Durante's were the second African American family to join a historic white church in the area that was established by German settlers of the town. Following the principles of the Civil Rights Movement about racial harmony, the Durante family were [[integrationist]] in Delray Beach, Florida.
| access-date = 2022-07-21
| title = Multi-Career Woman Blends Family, Jobs
| author = Susan Giller
| date = 1976-08-08
| page = 11H
| newspaper = Fort Lauderdale News
}}</ref>


Prior to her political career, Durante worked as a [[real estate agent]].<ref name="blends-family"/> In 1977, she showed a [[Palm Beach, Florida|Palm Beach]] mansion to [[Dick Gregory]], which led some of the city's white residents to claim [[blockbusting]].<ref>{{Cite news
She and her husband became successful business owners. In 1970, they owned the first racially integrated child care center named Kenland College for Tots that included [[racial integration]] among the staff and also racial integration among the children who attended the school in Delray Beach and Palm Beach County, Florida. The school was awarded outstanding by [[SCORE]] because of its campus design, operation and curriculum. The success of the school led Charlotte and her husband to open a children's clothing store name for their children Tony & Lori. It was the first African American owned business to open in the former Delray Beach Mall in Delray Beach, Florida.
| page = B1
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106001085/gregory-just-looking-at-palm-beach/
| access-date = 2022-07-21
| title = Gregory 'Just Looking' at Palm Beach
| newspaper = The Palm Beach Post
| author = Charles Keefer
| date = 1977-05-29
}}</ref>


== Political career ==
In 1974, Charlotte Gilmore Durante opened the first black-owned real estate company, Durante Realty, in Delray Beach and southern Palm Beach County, Florida. In 1985, she owned the first black-owned [[State Farm Insurance]] Agency in Delray Beach and southern Palm Beach County which was also the first State Farm Insurance Agency owned by an African American woman in all of Palm Beach County. She was honored by State Farm with the "New Agent of the Year" Award. By the 1990s, she and her husband were the largest African American business owners in Palm Beach County, operating numerous businesses. The Durante's were among the [[American Black Upper Class]] in South Florida. A racially integrated staff was prevalent in their businesses.


Durante was the first chair of the South County Mental Health Center, which opened the first [[crisis intervention center]] in south Palm Beach County in 1975.<ref>{{Cite news
Her community involvement included being the first African American in Delray Beach and/or Palm Beach County and/or the State of Florida to join the Delray Beach [[Kiwanis]]; the first African American to serve on the boards of the [[Delray Beach]] Chamber of Commerce, the Delray Beach Community Hospital, the South [[Palm Beach County]] Mental Health Center; the Delray Beach [[Sister Cities International]] and the first African American on the board of the [[Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens]] in Delray Beach. In 1993, Durante founded the Palm Beach County Chapter of [[Jack and Jill (organization)]] which is a national cultural and civic organization for children of [[The black elite]].
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106001515/1st-residential-crisis-center-opens/
| access-date = 2022-07-21
| title = 1st Residential Crisis Center Opens Saturday
| author = <!-- not stated -->
| newspaper = The Palm Beach Post
| date = 1975-06-19
| page = C2
}}</ref> After the board fired the Center's director in December 1975, he and his executive assistant claimed he had been fired for opposing Durante's [[conflicts of interest]], including attempting to have the Center use her properties for housing.<ref>{{Cite web
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106002243/mental-health-official-blamed-for-2/
| access-date = 2022-07-21
| title = Mental Health Official Blamed for 2 Firings
| author = Bob Brink
| date = 1976-01-08
| newspaper = The Palm Beach Post
| page = C1
}}</ref> The director and assistant subsequently sued the Durante and the rest of the Center's board for [[reinstatement]], alleging violations of the [[Florida Sunshine Law]].<ref name="charges-all">{{Cite news
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106002177/board-chairman-health-center-charges/
| access-date = 2022-07-21
| title = Board Chairman: Health Center Charges All Lies
| author = Lynda Burgiss
| date = 1976-01-10
| page = B1
| newspaper = The Palm Beach Post
}}</ref> The matter was investigated by the local mental health district and by the federal [[Department of Health, Education and Welfare]].<ref name="charges-all"/>


Durante also served on the Delray Beach planning and zoning board, an appointed position.<ref name="running-on">{{Cite news
In the 1990, Charlotte Gilmore Durante also became instrumental in leading efforts to revitalize the historic black business district in Delray Beach known as West Atlantic Avenue. She helped to found the now-defunct Peach Umbrella Plaza Association.[5] In Durante's consistent belief that African Americans can best build their wealth and yield political power through real estate ownership, in early 2000, she organized the first African American investment club in Palm Beach County, the Phoenix Group, which made history when they purchased an entire front-block on West Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach.
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106000161/durante-running-on-my-own/
| accessdate = 2022-07-21
| title = Durante: Running On My Own
| author = <!-- not stated -->
| date = 1978-02-25
| page = 2B
| newspaper = Fort Lauderdale News
}}</ref>


In the March 1978 election, Durante ran as one of five candidates for three seats the Delray Beach city commission.<ref name="to-campaign">{{Cite news
Charlotte Durante is also the founding editor of [[The Village Beat]] which is the second [[African American]] [[newspaper]] in Palm Beach County and the first [[African American newspaper]] to cover news county-wide.
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/105999530/five-to-campaign-in-delray-election/
| access-date = 2022-07-21
| title = Five to Campaign In Delray Election
| author = <!-- not stated -->
| date = 1978-02-02
| quote = Five to Campaign In Delray Election
| work = The Miami Herald
| page = 2C
}}</ref> The ''[[Miami Herald]]'' described her as a "leader of the black community".<ref name="to-campaign"/> Although accused of being close to former mayor James Scheifley, who was also running, she noted that Scheifley had opposed her nomination to the zoning board.<ref name="running-on"/> The race went to a [[runoff election|runoff]] with 33.6% turnout, in which Durante defeated her opponent Willard Young by 53% to 47%.<ref name="a-winner">{{Cite news
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106000357/durante-a-winner-in-delray-runoff/
| access-date = 2022-07-21
| title = Durante a Winner in Delray Runoff
| author = Barbara Ludman
| date = 1978-03-22
| newspaper = The Palm Beach Post
| page = 2C
}}</ref> Durante thus became the only Black person and the only woman among the city commissioners.<ref name="incumbents-easily">{{Cite news
| title = Delray's incumbents easily re-elected
| author = Helen Hu
| newspaper = Fort Lauderdale News
| pages = [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106001885/delrays-incumbents-easily-re-elected/ 1B], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106001952/delray-voters-return-incumbents-to/ 5B]
| date = 1980-03-05
}}</ref><ref name="city-picks">{{Cite news
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106002411/1-city-picks-woman-2nd-elects-newcomer/
| access-date = 2022-07-21
| title = 1 City Picks woman; 2nd Elects Newcomer
| author = Lucy Emerson
| date = 1978-03-22
| page = B1
| newspaper = The Miami Herald
}}</ref>


Durante won reelection by a comfortable margin in March 1980.<ref name="incumbents-easily"/> She led the field of City Commission candidates in fundraising.<ref name="incumbents-easily"/>
Because of Durante's community activism, in the September/October 1993 issue of [[Boca Raton Magazine]], she was selected as ''Six Women Who Make A Difference''. In 1993, the [[Junior League]] of Boca Raton selected her as one of the finalist for the 1994 ''Woman Volunteer of the Year Award''. She was the first African American to be nominated for that award although she did not win. The Morikami Museum & Japanese Gardens submitted Durante for the Junior League honor.


In 1980 Durante advocated for Palm Beach County to establish a center for [[Haitians|Haitian]] refugees, who were arriving in large numbers but were being denied [[refugee status]] by the United States.<ref name="county-backs">{{Cite web
In 2007, Charlotte G. Durante and her daughter Lori became the second and third African Americans to join the historic Boynton Woman's Club in Boynton Beach, Florida, a civic woman's group, famous for its historic pink building, established more than 100 years ago. Their membership in the exclusive predominantly white group also marked the first time a mother and daughter joined the club together.
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106006150/county-backs-haitian-center-proposal/
| accessdate = 2022-07-21
| title = County backs Haitian center proposal
| author = Mary Hladky
| date = 1980-02-15
| newspaper = Fort Lauderdale News
| page = B1
}}</ref> In 1981 Durante's work remodeling a former kindergarten in Delray Beach was opposed by neighbors who feared she would provide housing to Haitians.<ref>{{Cite web
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106005147/remodeling-project-of-durantes-opposed/
| access-date = 2022-07-21
| title = Remodeling Project of Durantes Opposed
| author = Larry Meltzer
| newspaper = The Post Extra
| page = 1
| publisher = The Palm Beach Post
| date = 1981-12-01
}}</ref>


Although the city commission was elected at large, Durante's seat was known as the "black seat".<ref name="a-winner"/> The name reflected the fact that the commission had always had exactly one Black member since the election of Ozie Youngblood, the first Black commissioner in the city's history, in 1968.<ref name="could-send">{{Cite web
=="Mama Charlotte" Moniker==
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106006259/turning-point-delray-could-send-second/
In the 1980s, Haitians from the Island of [[Haiti]] began immigrating to South Florida and often arrived by boat on the shores of Delray Beach, Florida. All came to South Florida to escape the crushing poverty in their black Island home. They were viewed as low-class black foreigners from a poor black country therefore they were greeted with harsh discriminiation and racism in America. In Delray Beach, Charlotte Durante provided endearing support for these Haitian immigrants with housing and jobs. Haitians were even allowed to enroll their children in Durante's child care center Kenland Academy (formerly Kenland College for Tots). And, Durante hired them in various job positions in the businesses she owned with her husband including hiring them in front desk and managerial jobs. These Haitian immigrants named her ''"Mama Charlotte"'' because of the unwavering support she gave to them. Durante explained that she helped these Haitian immigrants because she observed the discrimination they were experiencing that reminded her of the painful discrimination during her youth in segregated Alabama.
| access-date = 2022-07-21
| title = Turning Point? Delray Could Send Second Black to City Council
| author = Ken Kaye
| date = 1979-02-18
| newspaper = Fort Lauderdale News
| page = B1
}}</ref> A campaign to elect a second Black commissioner in 1979 failed.<ref name="could-send"/>


In 1982, Durante and Scheifley were defeated by large margins, and her former opponent Willard Young became mayor.<ref name="called-key"/> Young attributed the result to voter unhappiness with alleged mismanagement of the city government and finances.<ref name="called-key"/> Durante attributed her loss to negative campaigning and the effect of a second Black candidate splitting the vote.<ref name="called-key"/>
==Peach Umbrella Plaza Association & Delray Beach Tennis Center==
In 1989, Charlotte G. Durante led a grassroots effort to organize property and business owners in the 300 and 400 Block of West Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach, Florida to help with revitalizing the blighted West Atlantic Avenue corridor in Delray Beach, Florida. The West Atlantic Avenue corridor was the historic black business district that developed during the era of segregation. Including Durante, the original charter members of the Peach Umbrella Plaza Association were Carolyn Cunningham, the late Loretta McGhee, and Clay and Hyacinth Wideman. A major accomplishment of this 5 persons group was the fact that it was the Peach Umbrella Plaza Association that initiated and organized the efforts that changed the course of history for the Delray Beach Tennis Center and changed the minds of the Delray Beach City Commission who had planned to move the tennis center to a site on Linton Boulevard in Delray Beach because it was thought that the blighted condition on West Atlantic Avenue was too detrimental to the future operation of the tennis Center. The Peach Umbrella Plaza Association members concept was that rebuilding the tennis center at its same location would be a big boost to the revitalization of West Atlantic Avenue because West Atlantic Avenue is a gateway leading to Downtown Delray Beach, Florida. Because of the group's success with preventing the move of the Delray Beach Tennis Center that also spurred its redevelopment, the Peach Umbrella Plaza organization was one of three projects selected by the City of Delray Beach, Florida when the City competed for and won in 1993 the [[All-America City Award]] from the [[National Civic League]]. In 1993, the Boca Raton Magazine featured Charlotte G. Durante as ''"Six Women Who Make A Difference"'' because of her community works for West Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach. The Delray Beach Tennis Center is now a major economic engine in Delray Beach and hosts international tennis championships that have featured Andre Agassi, Venus and Serena Williams, Andy Roddick, James and Thomas Blake, and Chris Evert.


After leaving the city commission, Durante continued to advocate for city investment in Black areas of Delray Beach.<ref>{{Cite news
==Controversy-Arrest-News Media's Role==
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106005469/dont-repeat-failure-to-better-black/
On May 26, 2010, the Police Department of the City of Delray Beach arrested Charlotte Gilmore Durante regarding charges that have not yet been proven true in court.
| access-date = 2022-07-21
| title = Don't repeat failure to better black section, Delray is told
| author = Michael Connelly
| date = 1982-07-30
| newspaper = South Florida Sun Sentinel
| page = 3B
}}</ref>


==Trial and conviction==
The charges from the Attorney General's Office of the State of Florida pertain to investments with her real estate company. Durante is facing 59 counts and there are an alleged 83 investors as witnesses regarding $1.89 million. She is among a few African Americans in the history of State of Florida to accomplish and be charged with this many counts for an alleged financial crime.


On May 26, 2010, the Police Department of the City of Delray Beach arrested Durante on fraud charges carrying a sentence of up to 90 years in prison.<ref name=Ponzi>{{cite news |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-05-26/news/fl-former-delray-commisioner-arrest-20100526_1_ponzi-scheme-investors-delray-beach-police-department |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531201711/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-05-26/news/fl-former-delray-commisioner-arrest-20100526_1_ponzi-scheme-investors-delray-beach-police-department |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 31, 2010 |title=Former Delray commissioner charged with running Ponzi scheme |last=Pesantes |first=Erika |newspaper=[[Sun-Sentinel]] |date=May 26, 2010 |access-date=December 31, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/former-delray-beach-commissioner-realtor-accused-o/nL7LD/ |title=Former Delray Beach commissioner, Realtor accused of $1.8 million Ponzi scheme |last=Pesantes |first=Erika |newspaper=The Palm Beach Post |date=May 27, 2010 |access-date=December 31, 2014}}</ref><ref>''The Sun-Sentinel'', May 27, 2010</ref><ref name="god's name">{{cite news |url=http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/trial-resumes-in-18m-fraud-trial-for-delray-ex-com/nXHqR/ |title=Ex-Delray Beach commissioner 'used god's name' in alleged $1.8M Ponzi scheme, victims say |last=Musgrave |first=Jane |newspaper=The Palm Beach Post |date=April 10, 2013 |access-date=December 31, 2014}}</ref>
The [[bail]] was set at $503,000. Charlotte Gilmore Durante is a community servant with no prior arrest record thus her [[bail]] is among the highest in the State of Florida and the nation. Pleas have been made to the court that the bond is excessive and after almost 3 years of jail confinement, the bail was reduced significantly.


The presiding judge was Charles E. Burton.<ref name="god's name"/> Durante’s attorney, Thomas Montgomery, insisted his client did nothing wrong. She planned to get donations and government grants for the museum. That money would be used to repay investors, he said."<ref name="god's name"/>
According to court documents, Charlotte Gilmore Durante has proclaimed her innocence in the court of law and stated that she does not know 83 investors. According to a December 6, 2008 WPBF news story, Delray Beach Attorney Annie J. Adkins-Roof recruited Haitians to file false complaints with the Delray Beach Police Department.


Eve Lyon, jury forewoman, said the panel had no choice but to convict. Montgomery and Durante insisted they had evidence that would prove investors knew what they were getting into, but "[i]t was mainly lack of contrary information from the defense side" that led to the conviction, Lyon said. "(Montgomery) didn't demonstrate anything concrete."<ref name=laundering>{{cite news |url=http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/attorneys-begin-closing-arguments-in-case-of-ex-de/nXMQx/?icmp=pbp_internallink_textlink_apr2013_pbpstubtomypbp_launch |title=Ex-Delray Beach official Durante convicted of money laundering, fraud for running $1.8M Ponzi scheme |last=Musgrave |first=Jane |newspaper=The Palm Beach Post |date=April 15, 2013 |access-date=December 31, 2014}}</ref>
If convicted of the alleged crime, she could face up to 90 years in prison.[1][2] [3][4][5]


Montgomery later sought a new trial, arguing that the judge erred by forcing him to represent Durante, and by failing to grant a trial delay because of Durante's medical condition.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-04-26/news/fl-charlotte-durante-new-trial-motion-brf-20130426_1_durante-realty-trial-delay-charlotte-gilmore-durante |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501103512/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-04-26/news/fl-charlotte-durante-new-trial-motion-brf-20130426_1_durante-realty-trial-delay-charlotte-gilmore-durante |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 1, 2013 |title=New trial sought for ex-Delray commissioner convicted of fraud |last=Freeman |first=Marc |newspaper=Sun-Sentinel |date=April 26, 2013 |access-date=December 31, 2014}}</ref>
At the time of her arrest at the Delray Beach Police Department, the police and the Florida Attorney's office sent a press release to the [[Associated Press]] that gained international traction. The press releases were emailed to the news media before Durante had been booked in the Palm Beach County jail and before she appeared in court to enter her plea. No one in the news media has ever interviewed Charlotte Durante about the charges and allegations prior to publishing news reports that implied wrongdoing by Durante.


On June 13, 2013, the judge sentenced Durante to seven years, with three years credit for [[time served]].<ref name="for-fraud">{{cite news
The trial is under way and expected to close by the 12th day of April, 2013.<ref> http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/trial-resumes-in-18m-fraud-trial-for-delray-ex-com/nXHqR/ </ref>
| url = https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106001138/seven-years-for-fraud/
| accessdate = 2022-07-21
| title = Seven years for fraud
| author = Marc Freeman
| date = 2013-06-14
| newspaper = South Florida Sun Sentinel
| page = B3
| location = Fort Lauderdale, Florida
}}</ref> The judge noted that Durante had been "a beacon for the community" and had lived a "remarkable life".<ref name="for-fraud"/>


Near the end of her sentence in 2016, Durante filed an appeal for a new trial.<ref name="weeks-away"/> The [[Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal]], however, summarily affirmed the trial court.<ref>''Durante v. State'', [https://cite.case.law/so-3d/211/1052/12353468/ 211 So. 3d 1052] (June 9, 2016).</ref>
The previous presiding Judge is [[John Kastrenakes]], a former [[U.S. Attorney]]. Famously, as a U.S. Attorney, Kastrenakes prosecuted then-Palm Beach County Commissioner [[Mary McCarty (Florida politician)]]. Shortly afterwards, then-Florida Governor [[Charlie Crist]] appointed him Judge in the Palm Beach County Judicial Circuit. To remain a Judge, they have to be re-elected by registered voters of Palm Beach County.

Nearly 50 letters have been sent to Judge from family and friends of Charlotte Durante about her life, Civil Rights activities, her character and her Christian beliefs. Likewise, Durante also has written letters to the court and [[Judge Kastrenakes]] and about how she helped [[Haitian people|Haitian]] immigrants when they were discriminated against all while also recounting in those letters her innocence stating ''"…I am innocent of the charges and I don’t plea bargain with Satan, I don’t plea bargain my innocence and I am willing to, committed to, prepared to and, if necessary, will die for the sake of the truth and to defend my innocence."'' According to court records, Durante has proclaimed that the Delray Beach Police Detective Casey Thume [[allegedly falsified evidence]] against her possibly for political reasons and not based on proven criminal activity. Because of Durante's steadfast plea of innocence against overwhelming criminal charges, she has been viewed by her family as a [[martyr]]. Judge Kastrenakes has refused all requests for a reasonable [[bail]] thereby ensuring beliefs in both the African American and White communities that Durante's arrest and excessive [[bail]] are politically inspired, racially motivated and a [[high-tech lynching]]. In reaction, nearly $10,000 was raised with donations from the community for Durante's legal defense. Durante's track record as a [[community leader]] and her [[political activism]] has been described as a "fighter for the [[little guy]]" often making her an [[agitator]] of popular political positions especially pertaining to her help of poor immigrants and African Americans with increasing their landownership in neighborhoods or districts in [[Delray Beach]], Florida that the local government wanted to [[gentrify]]. Thus, some have considered her a [[political prisoner]] in [[Palm Beach County]], [[Florida]] because of the arrest with an excessive [[bail]] especially when she had no prior criminal record.

The current presiding Judge is Charles E. Burton. [5]

Much suspicion has developed about a December 6, 2008, news story that aired on [[WPBF]] Ch. 25. The reporter was Terri Parker who has never interviewed Charlotte G. Durante but orchestrated an ambush-style news story against Durante about alleged criminal activity. Because Parker never interviewed Durante before airing the story, it is believed that Parker acted on a false information from Attorney Annie Adkins, the police detective and office of Florida's State of Attorney in Palm Beach County. The news story stated that it as actually engineered by Attorney Annie Adkins of Delray Beach. Adkins has statements against Charlotte Durante in all news stories about the charges where Adkins is presented as the Attorney for some of the alleged investors but Adkins is not the lawyer of all the complainants. Before that December 6, 2008, news story aired, Adkins sent letters advising these people to seek their own counsel. Court documents show that Attorney Adkins became a special assistant for the State of Attorney's Office while she was also presented as a private attorney representing the investors.

Testimony from the trial was recapped in the Palm Beach Post: "She promised me I could get my money back in four months,” said Pierre Polynice, who invested nearly $20,000, some from his Publix retirement account, with the promise of an 18 percent return. “I didn’t get a cent back. It was all a bunch of lies.”
Like most of those who testified on the opening day of what is expected to be a three-day trial, Polynice spoke through an interpreter. Natives of Haiti, prosecutors said they came to South Florida looking for a better life and instead were duped into giving their hard-earned money to a con artist.
Some said they trusted Durante because she was a god-fearing woman. One said she (referring to another alleged investor) belonged to his church. “She actually used god’s name,” recalled Jean-Remy Revilien. “She said she was trying to help Haitian people and she was doing it for god.”
But, prosecutor Bill Minton said, she was doing it for herself.

Those who testified said the long-time real estate agent told them she would use their money to cover down payments for struggling families who couldn’t get bank loans. Once the families got the conventional loans, she would repay investors with interest of up to 18 percent.
Instead, Minton said, she used the money to pay the mortgage on her house and to establish the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History, a struggling venture operated in Delray Beach and, at one time, in the Boynton Beach Mall by her daughter, Lori Durante.

Some of the 83 people who invested with Charlotte Durante from 2006 to 2008 received some interest payments, Minton said. Most received nothing. “It went to prop up her idea and what she wanted to see happen; not what she told them would happen,” he told the eight jurors.

Durante’s attorney, Thomas Montgomery, insisted his client did nothing wrong. She planned to get donations and government grants for the museum. That money would be used to repay investors, he said." <ref> http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/trial-resumes-in-18m-fraud-trial-for-delray-ex-com/nXHqR/</ref>

On April 15, 2013, after more than 5,000 pages of evidence and deliberating for 12 minutes the jury found Charlotte Durante guilty. Judge Burton immediately revoked Durante's bond and remanded her. Judge Burton denied Attorney Montgomery's request to allow Durante to remain on house arrest until sentencing for medical reasons. On April 19th, Attorney Thomas Montgomery submitted a Motion for a New Trial citing many mistakes including Judge Burton erring by forcing Montgomery to represent Durante when Montgomery submitted a Motion to Withdraw on April 8, 2013 at 8:30am and the court erred by accepting the guilty verdict from the jury when they only deliberated for 12 minutes. "...it is clear that the jury did not review any evidence...," stated Montgomery in his Motion for a New Trial.

Eve Lyon, jury forewoman, said the panel had no choice but to convict. Montgomery and Durante insisted they had evidence that would prove investors knew what they were getting into. But, it was never presented to the jury. “It was mainly lack of contrary information from the defense side,” Lyon said. “(Montgomery) didn’t demonstrate anything concrete.” <ref> http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/attorneys-begin-closing-arguments-in-case-of-ex-de/nXMQx/?icmp=pbp_internallink_textlink_apr2013_pbpstubtomypbp_launch</ref>

==New Court Trial==
Court-appointed defense Attorney Thomas Montgomery submitted to the Palm Beach County Clerk of Court a Motion for a New Trial for Charlotte Durante. He stated many errors in the trial and among of them included the jury rendering their verdict in 12 minutes for a case that had more than 5,000 pages of evidence.

Montgomery wrote prosecutors failed to prove it, and, "the guilty verdicts are contrary to the law and inconsistent with the evidence." Montgomery's motion also blasts the jury for reaching a verdict in 12 minutes, despite 5,000 pages of documents and more than three days of testimony. "It is clear that the jury did not review any evidence, did not examine testimony and had come collectively to an opinion of guilt prior to the conclusion of the trial," Montgomery wrote, adding that it deprived Durante of "a fair and impartial trial." The defense attorney also said the judge erred by forcing him to represent Durante, and by failing to grant a trial delay because of Durante's medical condition.<ref>http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-04-26/news/fl-charlotte-durante-new-trial-motion-brf-20130426_1_durante-realty-trial-delay-charlotte-gilmore-durante</ref>

Eve Lyon, jury forewoman, said the panel had no choice but to convict. Montgomery and Durante insisted they had evidence that would prove investors knew what they were getting into. But, it was never presented to the jury. “It was mainly lack of contrary information from the defense side,” Lyon said. “(Montgomery) didn’t demonstrate anything concrete.” <ref>http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/attorneys-begin-closing-arguments-in-case-of-ex-de/nXMQx/?icmp=pbp_internallink_textlink_apr2013_pbpstubtomypbp_launch</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{no footnotes|date=June 2011}}
*1. May 26, 2010 - Sun Sentinel Newspaper
*2. May 26, 2010 - The Palm Beach Post
*3. May 27, 2010 - The Sun-Sentinel
*4. May 27, 2010 - The Palm Beach Post
*5. April 10, 2013 - The Palm Beach Post http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/trial-resumes-in-18m-fraud-trial-for-delray-ex-com/nXHqR/
*5. September/October 1993 - Boca Raton Magazine
*6. May 26–27, 2010 - The Associated Press
*7. December 6, 2008 - MSNBC
*8. Clerk of the Court - Palm Beach County, Florida
*http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/content/opinion/epaper/2009/03/15/a26a_schultzcol_0315.html
*http://judgepedia.org/index.php/John_S._Kastrenakes
*http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2013-04-26/news/fl-charlotte-durante-new-trial-motion-brf-20130426_1_durante-realty-trial-delay-charlotte-gilmore-durante
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==External links==
==External links==
*charlottedurante.org
* {{Official website|https://web.archive.org/web/20110815210808/http://charlottedurante.org/}}
*http://charlottedurante.org/


{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
| NAME = Durante, Charlotte
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION =
| DATE OF BIRTH = April 19, 1944
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durante, Charlotte}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durante, Charlotte}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Greene County, Alabama]]
[[Category:People from Greene County, Alabama]]
[[Category:African-American women in politics]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American women politicians]]
[[Category:Zeta Phi Beta]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American women politicians]]
[[Category:People from Delray Beach, Florida]]
[[Category:People from Delray Beach, Florida]]
[[Category:Tuskegee Institute alumni]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania State University alumni]]
[[Category:African-American city council members in Florida]]
[[Category:20th-century Florida politicians]]
[[Category:American politicians convicted of fraud]]
[[Category:Florida politicians convicted of crimes]]

Latest revision as of 16:04, 12 November 2024

Charlotte Durante
Durante in 1986
Member of the Delray Beach City Commission
In office
1978–1982
Personal details
Alma mater

Charlotte Gilmore Durante was elected in 1978 as the first African American woman City Commissioner in Delray Beach, a city in Palm Beach County, Florida. She served until 1982.[1] In 2010, she was arrested on charges of defrauding Haitian immigrants out of 1.8 million dollars in a Ponzi scheme, in order to purchase a permanent location for the Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History, which her daughter ran.[2] Convicted on a portion of the original charges in 2013, she completed her sentence in 2016.[3]

Early life and education

[edit]

Durante studied at the Tuskegee Institute and later obtained a master's degree in public health from Penn State.[4]

Prior to her political career, Durante worked as a real estate agent.[4] In 1977, she showed a Palm Beach mansion to Dick Gregory, which led some of the city's white residents to claim blockbusting.[5]

Political career

[edit]

Durante was the first chair of the South County Mental Health Center, which opened the first crisis intervention center in south Palm Beach County in 1975.[6] After the board fired the Center's director in December 1975, he and his executive assistant claimed he had been fired for opposing Durante's conflicts of interest, including attempting to have the Center use her properties for housing.[7] The director and assistant subsequently sued the Durante and the rest of the Center's board for reinstatement, alleging violations of the Florida Sunshine Law.[8] The matter was investigated by the local mental health district and by the federal Department of Health, Education and Welfare.[8]

Durante also served on the Delray Beach planning and zoning board, an appointed position.[9]

In the March 1978 election, Durante ran as one of five candidates for three seats the Delray Beach city commission.[10] The Miami Herald described her as a "leader of the black community".[10] Although accused of being close to former mayor James Scheifley, who was also running, she noted that Scheifley had opposed her nomination to the zoning board.[9] The race went to a runoff with 33.6% turnout, in which Durante defeated her opponent Willard Young by 53% to 47%.[11] Durante thus became the only Black person and the only woman among the city commissioners.[12][13]

Durante won reelection by a comfortable margin in March 1980.[12] She led the field of City Commission candidates in fundraising.[12]

In 1980 Durante advocated for Palm Beach County to establish a center for Haitian refugees, who were arriving in large numbers but were being denied refugee status by the United States.[14] In 1981 Durante's work remodeling a former kindergarten in Delray Beach was opposed by neighbors who feared she would provide housing to Haitians.[15]

Although the city commission was elected at large, Durante's seat was known as the "black seat".[11] The name reflected the fact that the commission had always had exactly one Black member since the election of Ozie Youngblood, the first Black commissioner in the city's history, in 1968.[16] A campaign to elect a second Black commissioner in 1979 failed.[16]

In 1982, Durante and Scheifley were defeated by large margins, and her former opponent Willard Young became mayor.[1] Young attributed the result to voter unhappiness with alleged mismanagement of the city government and finances.[1] Durante attributed her loss to negative campaigning and the effect of a second Black candidate splitting the vote.[1]

After leaving the city commission, Durante continued to advocate for city investment in Black areas of Delray Beach.[17]

Trial and conviction

[edit]

On May 26, 2010, the Police Department of the City of Delray Beach arrested Durante on fraud charges carrying a sentence of up to 90 years in prison.[18][19][20][21]

The presiding judge was Charles E. Burton.[21] Durante’s attorney, Thomas Montgomery, insisted his client did nothing wrong. She planned to get donations and government grants for the museum. That money would be used to repay investors, he said."[21]

Eve Lyon, jury forewoman, said the panel had no choice but to convict. Montgomery and Durante insisted they had evidence that would prove investors knew what they were getting into, but "[i]t was mainly lack of contrary information from the defense side" that led to the conviction, Lyon said. "(Montgomery) didn't demonstrate anything concrete."[22]

Montgomery later sought a new trial, arguing that the judge erred by forcing him to represent Durante, and by failing to grant a trial delay because of Durante's medical condition.[23]

On June 13, 2013, the judge sentenced Durante to seven years, with three years credit for time served.[24] The judge noted that Durante had been "a beacon for the community" and had lived a "remarkable life".[24]

Near the end of her sentence in 2016, Durante filed an appeal for a new trial.[3] The Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal, however, summarily affirmed the trial court.[25]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Mike Capuzzo (1982-03-04). "'Mismanagement' issue called key to Delray vote". The Miami Herald. p. C1, C2 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Former Florida commissioner arrested in Ponzi scheme". The Associated Press. 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2022-07-21 – via The Gainesville Sun.
  3. ^ a b Marc Freeman (2016-05-30). "Convicted ex-Delray commissioner weeks away from finishing prison sentence; seeks new trial". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  4. ^ a b Susan Giller (1976-08-08). "Multi-Career Woman Blends Family, Jobs". Fort Lauderdale News. p. 11H. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  5. ^ Charles Keefer (1977-05-29). "Gregory 'Just Looking' at Palm Beach". The Palm Beach Post. p. B1. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  6. ^ "1st Residential Crisis Center Opens Saturday". The Palm Beach Post. 1975-06-19. p. C2. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  7. ^ Bob Brink (1976-01-08). "Mental Health Official Blamed for 2 Firings". The Palm Beach Post. p. C1. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  8. ^ a b Lynda Burgiss (1976-01-10). "Board Chairman: Health Center Charges All Lies". The Palm Beach Post. p. B1. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  9. ^ a b "Durante: Running On My Own". Fort Lauderdale News. 1978-02-25. p. 2B. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  10. ^ a b "Five to Campaign In Delray Election". The Miami Herald. 1978-02-02. p. 2C. Retrieved 2022-07-21. Five to Campaign In Delray Election
  11. ^ a b Barbara Ludman (1978-03-22). "Durante a Winner in Delray Runoff". The Palm Beach Post. p. 2C. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  12. ^ a b c Helen Hu (1980-03-05). "Delray's incumbents easily re-elected". Fort Lauderdale News. pp. 1B, 5B.
  13. ^ Lucy Emerson (1978-03-22). "1 City Picks woman; 2nd Elects Newcomer". The Miami Herald. p. B1. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  14. ^ Mary Hladky (1980-02-15). "County backs Haitian center proposal". Fort Lauderdale News. p. B1. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  15. ^ Larry Meltzer (1981-12-01). "Remodeling Project of Durantes Opposed". The Post Extra. The Palm Beach Post. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  16. ^ a b Ken Kaye (1979-02-18). "Turning Point? Delray Could Send Second Black to City Council". Fort Lauderdale News. p. B1. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  17. ^ Michael Connelly (1982-07-30). "Don't repeat failure to better black section, Delray is told". South Florida Sun Sentinel. p. 3B. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  18. ^ Pesantes, Erika (May 26, 2010). "Former Delray commissioner charged with running Ponzi scheme". Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on May 31, 2010. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  19. ^ Pesantes, Erika (May 27, 2010). "Former Delray Beach commissioner, Realtor accused of $1.8 million Ponzi scheme". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  20. ^ The Sun-Sentinel, May 27, 2010
  21. ^ a b c Musgrave, Jane (April 10, 2013). "Ex-Delray Beach commissioner 'used god's name' in alleged $1.8M Ponzi scheme, victims say". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  22. ^ Musgrave, Jane (April 15, 2013). "Ex-Delray Beach official Durante convicted of money laundering, fraud for running $1.8M Ponzi scheme". The Palm Beach Post. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  23. ^ Freeman, Marc (April 26, 2013). "New trial sought for ex-Delray commissioner convicted of fraud". Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on May 1, 2013. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
  24. ^ a b Marc Freeman (2013-06-14). "Seven years for fraud". South Florida Sun Sentinel. Fort Lauderdale, Florida. p. B3. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  25. ^ Durante v. State, 211 So. 3d 1052 (June 9, 2016).
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