FORT PIERCE, Fla. — The trial of former Fort Pierce City Manager Nick Mimms entered its second day Tuesday with opening statements and witness testimony.
Mimms was arrested in 2024 on charges of bid tampering and official misconduct.
WATCH BELOW: Opening statements begin in trial of former city manager
During opening statements, the State Attorney's Office said Mimms knowingly rigged the bidding process for two vacant parcels of land along Avenue D in favor of a local nonprofit that his niece was on the board of, and kept it from the public.
"The defendant Nicholas Mimms just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar," Assistant State Prosecutor Jonathan Bridges said.
Bridges pointed to a paper trail of city documents, email correspondence, phone records and witness testimony.
"He made sure that the public was not privy to the information he shared with Miss Scott and her group. In doing so, the defendant made sure that the city-owned land would ultimately be leased by LPYP and no one else," Bridges said.
LPYP stands for the Lincoln Park Young Professionals, the local nonprofit involved in the case.
The defense countered that Mimms showed no favoritism, and that a $500,000 grant provided by the Alleghany Franciscan Ministries toward the development of the site in Lincoln Park did not involve the city.
"They started work on the project, and it failed, and that's the sad truth. But it wasn't by the fault of any one person. It certainly wasn't a deliberate act by anyone," defense attorney Donald Murrell said.
The first witness called by the state was Ben Masondo, a local real estate broker from the Doyen Company, who also submitted a bid on the two vacant lots. Masondo said he felt the city's decision to move forward with LPYP was unfair.
"You have one that has a city employee involved. I felt that the judging was misguided. At one point, I think I had said clearly one of these people was the Russian judge, just decided not to score me fairly, and I looked at what was around, and yes, I was upset. I thought that was snake. They snaked me," Masondo said.
The trial is expected to last at least a week.
If found guilty, Mimms could face a second-degree felony for bid tampering that carries a maximum of 15 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
Official misconduct is a third-degree felony that carries a maximum of five years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine.
