ALFONSO CHARDY Herald Staff Writer

A federal jury decided Tuesday that Raul Martinez took money and land from developers in exchange for zoning favors, convicting the suspended Hialeah mayor of six counts of racketeering and extortion.

Martinez, 42, showed no emotion as clerk Jacob Hasbun read the verdict handed to him by jury forewoman Maryann Faust in a courtroom packed with Martinez's relatives and supporters and the news media.

The verdict capped 41 hours of dissension-plagued jury deliberations and 10 weeks of trial in which the government presented 28 witnesses to prove its charges that Martinez extorted almost $1 million from developers in cash and property.

The suspended mayor faces up to 20 years in prison on each count and up to $1.5 million in fines.

U.S. District Court Judge James W. Kehoe did not set a sentencing date for Martinez, who remained free on $100,000 bond.

Martinez, in his first public statement since the trial began Jan. 22, insisted after the verdict that he is innocent. Defense attorney James Jay Hogan said he will appeal.

"We are going to go on," Martinez told a crush of reporters and supporters on the steps of the federal courthouse. "I'm innocent of all the charges. I will continue to prove my innocence in the future."

Martinez's family members were in tears. His supporters were angry.

They shook their fists and proclaimed their love for Martinez and their belief in his innocence.

Word that the jury had reached a verdict delayed by 30 minutes the start of a Hialeah City Council meeting.

Acting Mayor Julio Martinez waited in his office for the verdict to be announced. He became mayor after former Gov. Bob Martinez suspended Raul Martinez shortly after he was indicted in April 1990. The three Martinezes are not related.

"I feel bad for his family," Julio Martinez said after the verdict was announced. "The jury has made its decision. I believe in the justice system, and apparently it has worked once again. I'll be here as mayor tomorrow."

Jurors did not discuss their verdict publicly. The judge asked them to withhold comment until they decide whether the government can seize $900,000 in cash and property that the prosecution said Martinez illegally obtained from developers.

Kehoe told the jury to return Thursday to deliberate on the property forfeiture.

Prosecutors Marcella Cohen, Bruce Udolf and Steve Chaykin expressed satisfaction over the verdict but declined further comment pending the forfeiture decision. A news conference the U.S. attorney's office had scheduled after the verdict was canceled.

"The prosecutors . . . are pleased with the jury's verdict," said Diane Cossin, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office. "Because the jury will continue to deliberate, they will not comment further until then."

Gov. Lawton Chiles, responding to the conviction, decided Tuesday that he will not formally remove the mayor from office just yet.

"The governor is not going to change the suspension status until all legal appeals have occurred," said the governor's communications chief, Mary Jane Gallagher.

Historically, governors have extended a convicted public official's suspension until appeals have been decided.

The verdict ended -- for now -- one of the most politically charged and controversial trials in Dade County in recent times.

From the start, the case attracted wide attention because Martinez at one time had been one of the most popular Cuban- American political figures in South Florida. He was mayor of Hialeah, Florida's fifth-largest city -- and Dade's second- largest -- since 1981.

At one point, Martinez, a Democrat, had been seen as a likely candidate to become the first Cuban American in Congress, replacing Rep. Claude Pepper, D-Fla., who died of cancer in 1989.

Martinez's defense attorneys claimed from the outset that their client was prosecuted mainly because U.S. Attorney Dexter Lehtinen wanted to neutralize the Hialeah mayor as a potential political rival to his wife, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who was also interested in Pepper's seat.

After Pepper died, Martinez dropped out of the running
because his name was linked to the federal corruption investigation of Hialeah. Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican, announced her candidacy for the seat.

She won it in a special election later in 1989, becoming the first Cuban-American representative in Congress.

Lehtinen has declined comment on the allegation of political motivation for the Martinez prosecution, but his spokeswoman, Cossin, has repeatedly denied the accusation.

When testimony began, the trial sparked further attention
because one of the key prosecution witnesses, builder Camilo Padreda, implicated other high-ranking elected officials in Dade in corruption. The officials included former Commissioners Demetrio Perez of Miami and Jorge Valdes of Dade County. Both have denied the allegations.

And as deliberations began last weeks, crisis rocked the jury.

Faust, the jury forewoman, set off the controversy when she notified the judge that one of the jurors, Judith Tomeny, had acknowledged reading about the case in the newspaper while the panel deliberated -- a violation of the judge's instructions.

The crisis developed as a result of a clash between pro- acquittal and pro-conviction jurors.

Tomeny, in an extraordinary court hearing in which jurors were questioned about the deliberations, said Faust and nine other jurors had pressured her and juror Lavances Wright to convict Martinez.

"We were being browbeaten," Tomeny said.

Despite defense motions for a mistrial, Kehoe decided to proceed with the trial with the same jury.

Deliberations resumed Friday. At 2 p.m. Tuesday, Faust notified the judge that the jury had reached a verdict. Kehoe's office contacted the prosecution and the defense soon afterward, and the court reconvened about 3:20.

But a glitch developed immediately. Kehoe said the jurors had not filled in the blanks in one of the racketeering charges of the verdict form.

The forewoman nodded.

Kehoe sent the jurors back to deliberate. They came out again a few minutes later. Faust said they needed more time. Kehoe sent them back again.

At 4:45 p.m., the jury came back, and Faust gave the clerk the verdict.

Martinez was convicted of six counts of conspiracy and racketeering and acquitted on two.

The convictions included four counts involving a racketeering conspiracy linking Martinez to the extortion of property and money in return for zoning actions involving seven housing projects and developments -- Esperanza Turnkey, Marivi Gardens, Danielle Marie, Las Palmas, Steve's Estates, Delgado Subdivision and Sevilla West.

He was also convicted of two extortion counts specifically dealing with Steve's Estates and Delgado Subdivision.

In Steve's Estates, developer Renan Delgado testified that he sold two parcels of land and gave a $50,000 loan to Martinez at the same time that he awaited a municipal decision to rezone his property to allow the operation of a gas station.

In Delgado Subdivision, developer Jose Portnoy said he sold two lots to Martinez while a zoning application on his property was pending.

While the jury found Martinez guilty of conspiracy to extort land from Portnoy in the Delgado Subdivision, it acquitted him of a count of actual extortion involving that property.

He was also acquitted of extortion in the Las Palmas project, which involved an allegation that developer and former Hialeah Councilman Silvio Cardoso paid Martinez $32,000.

Herald staff writers Don Van Natta Jr., David Lyons and Aminda Marques Gonzalez contributed to this report. WHAT'S NEXT FOR RAUL MARTINEZ
* Seizure: The jury returns Thursday to decide whether the government can seize cash and property it says he illegally took
from developers.

* Bond: He remains free on $100,000 bond.

* Sentencing: A date has not been set. He faces a maximum of 20 years on each count and a total of $1.5 million in fines.

* Appeal: The defense plans to appeal but has not said what parts of the trial it will challenge.

* Suspension: His suspension as Hialeah mayor will continue. Gov. Lawton Chiles, who can permanently remove Martinez from office upon conviction, said he will not do so until appeals are exhausted.

CORRECTION
A story on the conviction of suspended Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez in Wednesday's Herald incorrectly listed the jury findings on two of the counts. Martinez was acquitted of extortion in the count relating to the Sevilla West development. He was convicted of extortion in relation to the Delgado Subdivision project.