The former president of one of the largest homeowners associations in Florida — and her husband — admitted in court on Thursday afternoon to their roles in fleecing $2 million from residents’ monthly maintenance fees.
Standing in the jury box in orange jail attire, Marglli Gallego, 44, pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge. Gallego’s husband, Juan Antonio Gonzalez, 49, entered a guilty plea to one count of money laundering. Gonzalez, who was wearing a blue button up-shirt and khaki pants, patted the back of his attorney, Jude Faccidomo.
As a result of the plea, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson sentenced Gallego to seven years in prison followed by seven years of probation. She will get credit for the more than three years that she spent behind bars awaiting trial.
The judge sentenced Gonzalez to seven years of probation. He was also ordered to send the HOA a $50,000 check and deed the association a property worth $1.2 million.
Due to the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed many other charges: Gallego was originally charged with a slew of offenses, including several counts of racketeering, organized scheme to defraud, money laundering and grand theft. Gonzalez was charged with racketeering, money laundering and grand theft.
Gallego was a longtime official with the Hammocks Community Association, which oversees 40 communities and over 6,500 units. Prosecutors say Gallego and several other HOA leaders were involved in a complex scheme that included the creation of several “shell companies” — including one listed under Gonzalez’s name — that netted more than $1.4 million between 2017 and 2022.
Gallego was also accused of using an HOA credit card for personal purchases, including at supermarkets, bakeries and fast-food restaurants, such as Pollo Tropical, Panera Bread and Little Caesars. She also used HOA resources to go after enemies, police say, ordering the community’s security to “harass” rival association members.
Police began investigating the HOA after residents voiced concerns about a “decline” in the association’s reserve funds, “excessive expenditures” and other undocumented spending, court documents say.
Also arrested in the fraud probe were Monica Ghilardi, 56, a former board member; Myriam Rodgers, 80, a former board member; Yoleidis Lopez, 50, a former board member; Kevin Alzate, 34, Gallego’s cousin; Ivan Diez, 59, who was accused of being behind a shell company; and Jesus Cue, 64, the association’s accountant.
Ghilardi and Rodgers struck plea deals, Ghilardi pleaded guilty to grand theft and perjury and was sentenced to a year in prison followed by 12 years of probation. Rodgers received a withhold of adjudication, meaning no criminal conviction will appear on her record, and was ordered to complete five years of probation.
The Hammocks Community Association consists of more than 18,000 people, in 6,500 homes, townhouses and apartments, on almost 4,000 acres.
