Channel 9 looked through two and a half years’ worth of records showing who Orange County Commissioners are donating their tickets to. These tickets are for the Orange County Skybox at Camping World Stadium and the Kia Center. Many commissioners give them out to various nonprofits.
However, there is a constant trend of Commissioner Mayra Uribe giving hundreds of tickets to All Star Dads run by Kevin Sutton.
9 Investigates reported last month that the Florida Ethics Commission is investigating District Three Commissioner Mayra Uribe after a constituent submitted a complaint.
The complaint is linked to All Star Dads, the charity run by her husband, Kevin Sutton. The complaint alleges Uribe uses her role as commissioner to “bolster her household income” through her husband’s charity. The complaint focuses on using her county offices for marketing the charity, not ticket donations.
Just looking at January to July of this year, records show Uribe giving more than 160 tickets to All-Star Dads. The charity received about 30 percent of her tickets during that seven-month time frame.
The tickets include big acts like Travis Scott, Blink-182, rock star legends like Def Leppard and Rolling Stones, Andrea Bocelli, and Puerto Rican Popstar Bad Bunny.
And then there were the big games like USA v Brazil in Camping World Stadium, the Barcelona v Manchester City game, and dozens of tickets to the Orlando Magic.
The more than 160 tickets from just a seven-month time span adds up to a more than $20,000 value, based on county records.
Documents list Kevin Sutton as the person each of the tickets were transferred to.
Ben Wilcox with Integrity Florida says this raises red flags.
“It certainly doesn’t look good. And it raises the possibility that, you know, this commissioner and her husband are obtaining some kind of personal benefit from these tickets,” Wilcox said.
We don’t know how each of these tickets were used, but we did find some tickets to the same events up for auction on this site for All-Star Dads Fatherhood Breakfast Fundraiser.
It shows two Def Leppard tickets sold for $350. Two tickets to Zack Bryan sold for $600. Four tickets to the Barcelona v Manchester City game sold for $650.
The other big question is where all the money went from this auction and from other All-Star Dads fundraisers. 9 Investigates has been asking for weeks for the group’s Form 990s, documents the IRS requires tax-exempt organizations to file.
According to the IRS, All Star Dads has not filed a Form 990 for three consecutive years and automatically lost its tax exemption status in May.
So when this auction and fundraiser happened in June, they were no longer a 501(c)3 charity, according to the IRS Database.
“We don’t know if he’s a salaried employee of the charity. And, you know, in that case, he could still be benefiting personally if any of that money that is raised by the tickets goes into his salary,” Wilcox said.
When 9 Investigates asked if he profited from the tickets, Kevin Sutton said in a text to Investigative Reporter Ashlyn Webb that all funds are used to run the program. He did not say if he profited or if the sales benefited a potential salary.
Commissioner Uribe said she did not have time to speak to WFTV on camera.
Her office provided a statement saying, “Commissioner Uribe has donated and continues to donate to nonprofit organizations.” The office did not answer other questions, such as if she profited.
Mayor Jerry Demings is also responding to the controversy.
“In the very near future, I will seek input from the Board of County Commissioners. Given the details provided, the circumstances create the opportunity to improve our standard operating procedures regarding the use and distribution of skybox tickets by Orange County. We want to preserve our ability to use the tickets to the best benefit of non-profit agencies in our county.”
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