TALLAHASSEE (Florida Record) — North Miami attorney and former Miami-Dade Commission staffer Alexander Charles Annunziato has been suspended following an Aug. 1 Florida Supreme Court order over his arrest on drug charges, according to a recent announcement by The Florida Bar.
"Annunziato was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance after attempting to purchase from an undercover detective," the state bar said in its Aug. 29 announcement of the discipline and the Supreme Court's order. "Thereafter, Annunziato was accepted into the drug court program. Upon his successful completion of the program, all criminal charges are expected to be dropped."
Annunziato's 30-day suspension became effective 30 days after the court's order, according to the state bar's announcement. Florida court orders are not final until time to file a rehearing motion expires. Filing such a motion does not alter the effective date of Annunziato's suspension.
Annunziato was admitted to the bar in Florida on April 29, 2015, according to his profile at the state bar website. No prior discipline before the state bar is listed on Annunziato's state bar profile.
Annunziato was a member of the state bar's Traffic Rules Committee as recently as October but he is no longer listed among current members of the standing committee.
Annunziato is a former Florida Highway Patrol lieutenant and media spokesman and was trooper of the month in March 2003. In 2005 he was an unsuccessful candidate for a Miami Beach City Commission, placing second to Jerry Libbin who took more than 36 percent of the vote in the five-candidate field. Libbin became president of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce in March 2010.
Annunziato was legislative director to Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Esteban "Steve" Bovo but lost that job in February 2017 after law enforcement discovered him passed out in a county vehicle following a collision with two other unoccupied cars.
In May 2018, Annunziato was arrested in Allapattah, near his office at the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office, after he allegedly purchased heroin from an undercover detective.