Photo: FDLE Corrections photo: Sergio Velázquez
(Miami, FL) - Hialeah's former police chief will not go on trial for allegedly stealing from the department until next year.
The state and the defense are playing ping pong with digital evidence against Sergio Valezquez.
As flash drives pass back and forth, the state says it needs help filtering through devices in evidence to screen out confidential information.
Prosecutors say millions of dollars disappeared from HPD before then Police Chief Valezquez was suspended in 2021.
FDLE agents allege that Velazquez made more than 900 cash deposits, all under $10,000, between 2015 and 2021.
The investigation shows Velazquez allegedly made hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchases from Rolex, Cartier, Louis Vuitton and Versace.
Velazquez served as Hialeah’s police chief for nearly a decade before former Mayor Esteban Bovo removed him from the post in 2021.
He's charged with money laundering, organized fraud and first-degree grand theft.
The next status hearing is set for February sixth.
Velazquez is currently out on $30,000 bond.