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Operation Court Broom rocked Miami’s judicial system. Here’s what happened to key players

A courtroom sketch of one of the Court Broom federal trials in Miami the early 1990s. The attorneys depicted are Ed O’Donnell and Ed Carhart. The sketch was part of a gallery created by former Miami Judge Diane Ward on the fourth floor of Miami-Dade’s criminal courthouse.

Operation Court Broom was a landmark corruption investigation into Miami’s criminal justice system that led to a slew of indictments in the early 1990s. In all, five judges were charged, alongside a slew of attorneys.

One of those attorneys, William Castro, was convicted and sentenced to more than three years in prison. He turned his life around and on Thursday was honored by the Miami Catholic Lawyers Guild.

For Miami lawyer, imprisoned and disbarred decades ago, award caps life of redemption

Here’s what happened to some of the players in the case.

Raymond Takiff — A flamboyant defense attorney, Takiff ran into IRS problems and agreed to wear a wire to catch crooked judges in Miami-Dade’s criminal courthouse. He died in 1998 — before all of the trials were completed — of heart complications. He was 60.

Phillip Davis — The one-time Miami-Dade circuit judge was acquitted in 1993 of accepting bribes to fixed cases. Disbarred, he later went on to run a grant-funded program intended to teach impoverished inner-city residents job and life skills in Miami. State prosecutors charged him with stealing grant money, and he was sentenced in 2010 to 20 years in state prison.

Alfonso Sepe — The former Miami-Dade judge pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe and spent more than a year in prison. He spent his final years in retirement, dying in 2016 at age 88.

Harvey Shenberg — The former Miami-Dade circuit judge was convicted of giving out confidential information to a defense attorney who was secretly working with the feds. He lost at trial in 1993. After spending nearly 11 years in prison, Shenberg started a consulting business aimed at helping prisoners-to-be adjust to life behind bars.

Roy Gelber — After he was implicated, the former judge cooperated with prosecutors and testified against several defense attorneys who had given illegal kickbacks in exchange for court appointments. Gelber was sentenced to five years in prison. He remain disbarred and lives in Broward County. His name briefly popped up on the corporate records of Military Air Parts International, a company accused of duping investors, although he was not implicated in the case.

David Goodhart — The former Miami-Dade judge did 35 months in federal prison, and was released in 2010 after having cooperated with federal prosecutors. Upon his release in 2000, the then-71-year-old said he had a job lined up as an assistant at the Melreese golf club in Miami.