PALM BEACH, Fla. — The property manager at Mar-a-Lago became the third person Thursday to be indicted in the classified documents case involving former President Donald Trump.
The federal indictment names Carlos De Oliveira along with Trump and Walt Nauta.
The new charges center on obstruction and making false statements against De Oliveira, who according to the indictment rose from a valet at Mar-a-Lago to become the property manager.
The government alleges that De Oliveira helped move boxes of documents and then asked another employee in an IT office to delete a server believed to hold video security recordings.
Political
Who is Carlos De Oliveira? New defendant charged in classified docs case
No one was home at an apartment in Palm Beach Gardens, which is believed to be De Oliveira's home.
However, WPTV spoke to one neighbor Thursday night.
"I can't even think how he could be involved," said resident Raymond Brion, who said he lives next to De Oliveira. "I couldn't even imagine what they've got on him. I mean, he's not a crook."
Other neighbors described De Oliveira as a nice guy who enjoys playing golf.
"I have seen him. I've seen a lot of the employees there. The employees there seem to be very happy," conservative media host Karyn Turk, a frequent visitor of Mar-a-Lago, said.
As for why De Oliveira suddenly was indicted, law professor Bob Jarvis at Nova Southeastern University has a theory.
"I'm sure they had been spending months and months with him trying to get him to flip because that is the standard operating procedure for prosecutors," Jarvis said. "When it became clear he was not going to flip, then they decided to charge him."
De Oliveira is scheduled for a first appearance in a federal courtroom in Miami on Monday.