Miami Beach fire inspector pleads guilty in federal club-extortion racket case
Chai Footman made six figures as a fire inspector for the city of Miami Beach. But apparently, his $116,000 salary was not enough.
On Friday, Footman admitted to a Miami federal judge that he shook down a South Beach nightclub owner for thousands of dollars in exchange for kid-glove treatment during code inspections.
Footman, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiring with a ring of code enforcement officers and a fellow firefighter to extort the owner of Club Dolce on Ocean Drive — in a sensational case where an undercover FBI agent posing as the club manager fooled them all as he partied with Footman and the other municipal employees.