MIAMI – Just days before he is scheduled to begin serving a 364-day jail sentence, Miami Gardens pastor Eric Readon has filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, asking the court to reverse the deal that spared him a possible 65-year prison term.
Readon was charged in 2022 with organized scheme to defraud over $50,000, exploitation of the elderly over $50,000, and theft from an elderly person over $50,000.
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The charges stem from a Local 10 News investigation in 2017 that revealed Readon defrauded Edward Fuller, a now-76-year-old retired postal worker, out of his home and more than $267,000.
Under the now-contested plea deal, Readon agreed to plead guilty to one of the charges, serve 364 days in the Miami-Dade County Jail, pay $180,000 in restitution to Fuller, and serve 15 years of probation. The agreement allowed the court to mitigate an initial five-year state prison sentence if Readon surrendered voluntarily by July 15.
In the motion filed on July 11, Readon argues that his guilty plea was made under undue pressure, citing extensive media coverage by Local 10 News as a major factor.
He claims the reporting, especially from investigative reporter Jeff Weinsier, portrayed only the prosecution’s version of events and excluded his side.
The motion references multiple articles dating back to 2024 and claims that his family, including his wife, a Miami-Dade public school teacher, was approached at work and at church by reporters, causing emotional distress and embarrassment.
“The excessive and inappropriate influence, in addition to the emotional distress the Defendant was under, overcame his free will and led the Defendant to act against his best interest,” the motion states.
Readon also alleges that prosecutors used a separate grand theft auto charge involving a Land Rover to pressure him into accepting the plea. That charge, originally filed in Broward, was reopened in Miami-Dade and is being resolved as part of the broader plea agreement.
Readon previously accepted a no-contest plea in Broward County in an unrelated property fraud case. As part of that deal, he agreed to pay nearly $200,000 in restitution to victims in Davie and Lauderdale Lakes who said he took their properties under false pretenses.
Citing Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.170(f), Readon’s attorney argues that a plea can be withdrawn before sentencing if it was entered involuntarily, due to misapprehension, or if it serves the interests of justice.
During his most recent court appearance, Readon was taken into custody, not for the Fuller case, but on a warrant tied to the grand theft auto charge. That charge is being consolidated into the same plea deal as the Fuller case.
Readon is expected to be temporarily released and must turn himself in on Tuesday to begin serving his sentence. The judge warned that any violations before that date — including a traffic citation — could void the deal and expose him to 30 years in state prison.
The motion is now in the hands of Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Christine Hernandez, who presided over the original plea. As of now, Readon is still expected to surrender on Tuesday unless the court rules otherwise.
Fuller, the victim in the case, has since moved out of state for health reasons.
