Associated Press

Hialeah Mayor Raul Martinez and a city councilman were suspended from office Tuesday after a federal grand jury indicted them on racketeering and extortion charges.

The indictment accuses Martinez and Andres Mejides of corruptly obtaining property, including three Hialeah parcels worth $900,000.

''Martinez obtained benefits, including money and property for himself and others, by expressly using and threatening to use the powers of his office as Mayor of the city of Hialeah,'' the indictment said.

Martinez was named in two racketeering counts and seven extortion counts. If convicted, he would face a maximum 180 years in prison and fines of $2.25 million.

''I'm sure that after the process is over, I'll be found innocent because I am innocent of all the charges and the innuendos and the allegations,'' Martinez said.

Mejides was named in the two racketeering counts, along with four counts of obtaining property by extortion. If convicted, he would face maximum penalties of 120 years and fines of $1.5 million.

The men were suspended by Gov. Bob Martinez, who is not related to the mayor.

''These are extremely serious charges that go to the very essence of trust in government, and the people of Hialeah deserve to know that their officials have the public's best interest in mind at all times,'' said the governor. ''Until these charges can be resolved, these two officials should not hold their positions of trust.''

City Council president Julio Martinez, who is not related to either the governor or the suspended mayor, was named as acting mayor according to the city charter.

Raul Martinez, 40, has been Hialeah's mayor since 1981. He was re-elected to a fifth term last November after a campaign in which opponents raised the issue of his real estate dealings. The mayor replied that he had been under federal scrutiny for years, but without any finding of wrongdoing.

Martinez became the first Cuban-born mayor of Hialeah, a mostly Latin city of more than 200,000 residents and the state's fifth-largest municipality.

There have been rumors of possible indictments over the years, with accusations that Martinez, as owner of Martex Realty, reaped financial gain through his administration of city zoning matters.

He has denied any wrongdoing and has said that he needed to maintain his private business in case he lost an election after a decade of public service.