DeFede

KEY WEST (CBS4) ― Whether it is the bars along Duval or the street performers in Mallory Square, there is entertainment aplenty for tourists in Key West.

But for locals, the best show in town is taking place just a few blocks from the tourist spots in a Monroe County Courtroom.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury you have been selected and sworn in the jury trial of the State of Florida versus Randall Wade Acevedo Sr.," declared Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones on Wednesday. "This is a criminal case."

Call it Florida's southernmost public corruption trial.

Randy Acevedo the duly elected school superintendent for Monroe County is charged with three counts of official misconduct. Prosecutors claim he tried to cover up and hide his wife's alleged theft of more than $180,000 in school district funds. She's accused of using a district credit card to buy thousands of dollars worth of goods – including clothing and furniture for their home.

In addition to being the school superintendent's wife, Monique Acevedo was also the head of the school district's adult education program. She had worked for the district for 15 years.

She is charged with fraud and grand theft and is scheduled to go on trial in October. If convicted she faces up to 30 years in prison.

Randy Acevedo has maintained his innocence. He and Monique are still married, though friends say the criminal charges have placed a strain on their marriage. The couple has three children.

Randy's defense attorney told the four women and two men who make up the jury that he had no idea what his wife was doing.

"What this case is about is a man who was the superintendent of schools and he trusted his wife," said defense attorney Catherine Vogel.

Prosecutor Mark Wilson countered: "This is not the case of a trusting husband turning over the family checkbook to his wife who goes on a shopping spree. This is about someone accused of stealing public funds, public money."

But even prosecutors admit they have no proof that Randy Acevedo knew about his wife's criminal conduct. Merely they allege that when he was made aware of it by the district's finance director, he tried to cover it up.

Nevertheless, the case has turned into a summer-long Key West soap opera that has gripped this small town of 25,000.

Outside of Sandy's Café, a popular coffee spot on the north end of Old Town in Key West, folks were getting their fix of news and caffeine. Asked if everyone in town has an opinion about the Acevedo case, longtime conch Brad Hay replied: "Oh yeah, it's Key West baby."

Just down the street, radio station KONK (1680-AM) was in the midst of their continuing coverage of the Acevedo trial.

The story has been on the front page of the local paper nearly every day for the past three months, and the radio station has been recording the trial in its entirety, replaying extended portions of the testimony and then analyzing it with local experts.

"It was my impression prior to watching this trial that the evidence against Mr. Acevedo was much stronger than what I saw yesterday," said local defense attorney Julio Margalli.

Margalli is not alone in being underwhelmed by the prosecution's case. It is clear they have a great deal of evidence against Monique Acevedo, but the case against Randy seems rather meager.

There are three charges.

First, that he submitted a forged letter from a community group to support Monique's purchase of XM satellite radio. Second, that he signed a letter to state auditors saying he was not aware of any issues of fraud in the school district, even though the finance director said she was examining his wife's purchase. And third that he told the finance director, Kathy Reitzel, not to speak to anyone about her concerns over a holiday weekend earlier this year.

But prosecutors have no proof that Randy forged the letter from the community group. He claims his wife gave him the phony letter.

As to the second charge, his attorney argues the only reason he signed the letter to auditors was because his finance director, Reitzel. sent it to him and told him to sign it. He assumed that meant that whatever concerns she had were cleared up, and everything was okay or she would not have given him the letter to sign.

And as to the last charge, it turned out it was Reitzel who suggested they wait over the long holiday weekend before meeting to discuss his wife's charges.

But that hasn't stopped folks from speculating about what Randy Acevedo really knew and whether a husband could be truly ignorant of his wife's actions.

At the Rusty Anchor a dubbed the lunch bunch gets together every week. The Acevedo saga is a frequent topic.

"How could she buy all that stuff and her husband not question where did you get the money for these kind of things," said one of the ladies.

Added another: "When a wife goes out and buys a dress and sneaks it in the closet and tells him, `Oh honey, I've had it for a month', You can get away with that. But not with stuff that is worth hundreds of dollars."

The other ladies shout: "Thousands!"

On the restaurant's loading dock, Ramon Rodriguez, the owner of the Rusty Anchor wasn't so sure.

"I don't even know my own phone number to my house," he said laughing. "My wife and my daughters take care of everything. But I know what you are getting to."

Told Acevedo said he trusted his wife, Rodriguez said: "Most men do trust their wives or they get a divorce."

Inside the courtroom this week, Randy's friends and family have been on hand to support him. One person not in court was his wife Monique.

Ralph Sanchez has been a lifelong friend of Randy

"We all believe Randy is innocent but let's get it over with," he said. "It's gone too far already."

If Randy Acevedo is found not guilty as many people believe, then it will be up to Gov. Charlie Crist to reinstate him to his position as school superintendent, even though school board members want Acevedo out for permanently.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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