Sarnoff, a lawyer himself, sees it differently.

Former Miami City Commissioner Johnny Winton was sentenced to two years’ probation on Wednesday after pleading guilty to misdemeanor battery and disorderly intoxication charges.

Winton’s plea of guilty relieves him from a more serious alternative punishment, stated the Palm Beach State Attorney’s Office. And according to his attorney, Benedict Kuehne, Winton will also return to the “office he was elected to.”

Gov. Jeb Bush suspended the commissioner from his position after he was arrested in May of 2006 at Miami International Airport following a scuffle with two Miami-Dade Police officers. Winton, who smelled of alcohol, became angry with airline officials after a canceled flight and caused dental and groin injuries to the officers called to the scene, according to the police. Following Winton’s arrest, Governor Bush appointed the Palm Beach State Attorney’s Office to prosecute the Winton case after Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle declared a conflict of interest due to her “long-standing personal friendship with Winton.”

Prosecutors dropped felony charges as a result of Winton’s plea. Had Winton not pled guilty, he could have faced more than a year in prison. Winton was found guilty on two counts of battery and one count of disorderly intoxication.

Under the plea agreement, Winton must enroll and complete an anger management course, write a letter of apology to the victims, complete 100 hours of community service, pay restitution and court fees, obtain substance abuse evaluation within 30 days of the plea and complete all recommended treatment.

Winton is required to pay $2,011 to Chuck Greene, one of the injured officers, within seven days of his plea, which Winton’s attorney insists has already been paid to Greene.

Winton is also forbidden from consuming alcoholic beverages during his probation and “will be tested for alcohol consumption once weekly for the first year and thereafter at the discretion of probation,” according to the Palm Beach SAO.

“He’s not allowed, nor does he want, to consume alcohol,” Kuehne said. “Mr. Winton has not had a drink since that day and has found that alcohol is not a necessary or valuable part of his life.”

Left absent from the plea agreement, however, was any requirement that Winton renounce office. Although Winton has recently commented that he is through with politics, Kuehne said it is his client’s “obligation” to finish the remainder of his term.

“I think the statute and constitution require it,” Kuehne said. “…Winton will abide by the legal requirements as he has always tried to. He will serve out his full four-year term he was elected [for]. While public service remains a sacrifice for himself and other public officials, he is duty-bound to fulfill his obligation to the public.”

Elected in 1999 as a reform candidate, Winton was a staunch ally of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz. Prior to his arrest Winton even purchased a property with Diaz and City Manager Joe Arriola, a venture that saw Diaz fined $250 by the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics. Winton, a realtor, also was criticized by controlled-development advocates living in his own district when he voted in favor of high-rise construction projects in the Upper Eastside’s Biscayne Boulevard corridor and a Home Depot in Coconut Grove.

When the Palm Beach office charged Winton with two felonies, including assaulting two police officers last June, Bush suspended him, as required under state guidelines. The Miami City Commission promptly named Linda Haskins, then the city’s chief financial officer, to Winton’s seat. After a hotly competitive District 2 election, Coconut Grove Village Council Chair Marc Sarnoff was elected last November to complete the remainder of Winton’s term, which ends in November 2007.

Florida State Statute 112.51(6) stipulates that if a public official is found not guilty of the charges against him, and there is still time left in his term, “the governor shall forthwith revoke the suspension and restore such municipal official to office; and the official shall be entitled to and be paid full back pay and such other emoluments or allowances to which he or she would have been entitled for the full period of the suspension.”

Winton pled guilty but to two misdemeanor charges, and as far as Kuehne is concerned, will be given a “revocation of suspension” and returned to his $50,000-a-year office.

“Commissioner Sarnoff, who has served ably, was a caretaker commissioner serving through the period of Mr. Winton’s suspension and he was not elected to his own term of office.”

Sarnoff, a lawyer himself, sees it differently.

“I think I am the duly elected commissioner of District 2 and I will continue to sit,” said Sarnoff, who was on a business trip in Tampa. He added that Gov. Charlie Crist knows the “moral right of it and will keep us [Sarnoff and his staff] in office.”

Asked if Winton could in fact return to his seat, Palm Beach Assistant State Attorney Greg Kridos replied, “That’s between him and the governor. I don’t know what the ramifications are for him politically.”

Miami City Attorney Jorge Fernandez agreed — it’s up to the governor.

“That’s up to the governor and him,” said Miami City Attorney Jorge Fernandez.

Thomas Philtot, spokesperson for Crist, said the governor will review Winton’s case when he returns from his trade mission in Israel and “will take action if necessary.”

Kuehne said there is nothing to review. “Certainly I expect Governor Crist, as a lawyer, will follow Florida law.” When the reinstatement will occur, though, is not clear.

If Winton does return to his seat, it will once again shift the balance of power on the five-member Miami City Commission. Sarnoff is a fierce critic of Home Depot being constructed and opposed zoning allowing high-rise development at Mercy Hospital. Sarnoff has also often voted in similar fashion with Commissioner Tomas Regalado, a Manny Diaz critic, and has expressed some skepticism over Diaz’s Miami 21 initiative, which will rewrite the city’s zoning code.

Peter Ehrlich, who consults for Sarnoff’s office, said, “There have been a lot of phone calls today” regarding the plea bargain from “various business people and political people.” “Nobody is particularly worried and nobody has anything definite [to say about it],” Ehrlich said. “There is an election in November and yes, even if the governor were to put Winton back, Marc is still running for election in November. He’s done a lot of good things.”

Winton could also run again for a third term.

Seth Gordon, a political consultant and a friend of Winton, said Winton’s reinstatement is required by law. “I think it’s good for him,” he said. “He was elected to a four-year term, let him serve it out. The things he got suspended for [were] embarrassing but had nothing to do with his performance in office.”

— Tiffany Glick contributed to this report.

Comments? E-mail erik@miamisunpost.com.