A former Riviera Beach councilman has pleaded guilty to charges of violating the Sunshine Law. The law was put in place to ensure public business doesn’t happen behind closed doors.
Bruce Guyton was accused of violating the law by having a private conversation with another councilman in 2015. The charges were filed after he lost a long and contentious race to keep his seat against Lynne Hubbard.
Guyton took a plea deal Friday that includes a $500 fine, court cost and 15 hours of community service. The state attorney chose to withhold adjudication.
Fane Lozman filed the complaint and is a Riviera Beach resident; he was unhappy with the fact that adjudication was withheld, he called it a "sham."
“The state attorney is playing politics," Lozman said. "He has aspirations for higher office and he is not going to alienate that portion of the voter base that supported Bruce Guyton.”
The state attorney's office conducted a six-month investigation on Lozman's accusations. Lozman says it uncovered much more than he alleged.
"The investigative summary showed that Bruce Guyton had multiple conversations with elected officials prior to the votes taking place on city business. That crosses into the line of felony bid tampering," Lozman said. "They pre-arranged the votes not once, multiple times."
Guyton did not wish to comment. WPTV asked the state attorney to respond to Lozman’s claims.
A spokesperson said the deal reached was the best in this case since the outcome and punishment are the same other juries have reached in similar cases.
