A U.S. Marine who worked under former Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado was arrested Wednesday after he and a friend were accused of stealing $300,000 of donated items meant to help military veterans in need.
Antonio "Tony" Colmenares served as Miami's director of veteran services under Regalado and volunteered as the Miami director of The Florida Veterans Foundation, a nonprofit that was meant to offer support to the Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs.
According to the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement (FDLE), 57-year-old Colmenares organized an event to help homeless veterans and received more than 27,000 blankets and 9,700 ready-to-eat emergency meals.
"These donated items should have gone to help feed and warm veterans struggling to get back on their feet — instead they were sold to fatten the pockets of those charged with preying on the good intentions of others," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
Colmenares, who helped to implement a Miami-Dade courts program focusing on military veterans in need of help, and his friend 60-year-old Antonio Sabatier were accused of selling donated items and depositing the earnings to an account unrelated to the nonprofit.
Colmenares and Sabatier each face charges of first-degree grand theft.