Corrupt GSA Administrator Arrested

Police arrested a high-ranking city of Miami employee today after an undercover sting operation caught him accepting a $1,000 bribe on videotape at a Starbucks coffee shop across the street from the Miami-Dade Courthouse. Police say Miguel Angel Mejia, employed by Miami's General Services Administration, tried to shake down a contractor who had received an $11,500 air conditioning installation job from the city.

The contractor didn't want to pay the bribe, and called police. The contractor then took part in the sting operation, meeting Mejia at the Starbucks in March, police said. Police say Mejia, who was still in custody, has already confessed to his crime. Mejia was the acting superintendent of the GSA's Property and Maintenance Division.

On prosecutors' surveillance video shot at the Starbucks, Mejia and Patrick Kerney -- owner of Kerney and Associates, Inc., the contractor hired for the air conditioning work -- can be seen sipping coffee and chatting at an outdoor table. As narrated by prosecutors, Kerney is then seen pulling out a large wad of cash from one of his pockets and handing it to Mejia, who nonchalantly reaches across the table and accepts it.

Mejia faces one count of unlawful compensation, which carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison. ''He wanted to put that money -- your money, taxpayer dollars -- in his greedy little hands,'' Miami--Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said.