9 times as Mayor of Hialeah. Martínez has received numerous gubernatorial appointments, amongst them the Florida State Commission on Hispanic Affairs from 1979 to 1982, where he was elected Chairman in 1981, and on the Governor's Commission on the Statewide Prosecutor's Function from 1984 to 1985. In 1985, he was appointed by then Governor Bob Graham to the Democratic Policy Commission's Roundtable on Defense and Foreign Policy, as well as to the State Comprehensive Planning Committee. Martínez is a past-president of the Dade County League of Cities, the Florida League of Cities and served on the board of directors of the National League of Cities. He is Chairman of the South Florida Employment and Training Consortium and was the founding vice-chairman of the Beacon Council, a Miami-Dade County development agency composed of public and private sector leaders. The Mayor also served on the High Speed Rail Franchise and Environmental Review Committee. In 2004, he was the Parliamentarian to the 2004 Democratic Convention in Boston. On December 13, 2005, Hialeah City Hall was renamed the "Raul L. Martinez Government Center" in recognition to his 24 years as mayor and 4 years as a councilman. In 2007, the Republican controlled Florida legislature renamed 49 Street in Hialeah as "Mayor Raúl L. Martínez Street". Trials In 1989, Martínez was expected to run against State Senator Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in Florida's 18th congressional district, left vacant after the death of Claude Pepper. State Senator Ros-Lehtinen's husband, Dexter Lehtinen, the acting US Attorney for South Florida initiated an investigation on alleged accusations of extortion and racketeering. In 1990, he presented his findings to a grand jury that indicted Martinez on eight charges of extortion and racketeering. The indictment led to Martínez's suspension from office and trial. In July 1991, Martinez was convicted for six counts of conspiracy, extortion and racketeering and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Martinez appealed the decision and the appellate judges ordered a new trial in 1994, citing" flawed jury instructions and blatant jury misconduct". The mayor's second trial ended March 26, 1996 in a hung jury. And the third trial, which began April 22, 1996, resulted in an acquittal on one count of extortion and deadlocked on five remaining counts (by a vote of 11 to 1 in favor of an acquittal). The U.S. Attorney at that time, Kendall Coffey, (a Clinton appointee who was confirmed by a Republican U.S. Senate)