MIRIAM VELEZ FOR CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE, GROUP 2
VOTE * AUGUST 26, 2008

Miriam Velez has been a resident of the Tampa Bay area since 1990. She currently resides in West Tampa with her husband Jason and their daughter Ellianna Elizabeth. Miriam attended the University of South Florida where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English.

Shortly after graduation, she began her now 12 year career in the legal system serving first as a Probation Officer working for the Salvation Army and later as a Correctional Probation Officer with the Department of Corrections, Probation & Parole in Tampa. In 1997, she joined the Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration where she specialized in intelligence. While with the Department of Justice, Miriam trained in the FBI Academy, in Quantico Virginia. Assigned to the Tampa District Office she assisted in the investigation of money laundering cases and historical conspiracies. Miriam was responsible for providing strategic, operational and tactical intelligence on drug cultivation, production and emerging trends to both DEA Headquarters and Field offices.

Miriam was admitted to Stetson University College of Law in 1999. An active member of the Hispanic Bar Association, she served as Treasurer in 1999 and President in 2000 and 2001. While at Stetson, Miriam was selected for and completed several internships. During the summer of 2000, she served as a reach assistant to the Honorable Judge Alexander Paskay, Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Middle District Court of Florida. In the spring of 2001, she fulfilled an internship with the United States Department of Justice Trustees Office. Lastly, in the fall of 2001, Miriam interned as a certified legal intern with the 13th Judicial Circuit, State Attorney's Office in Tampa.

Following law school, Miriam began working as an assistant state attorney where she prosecuted thousand of criminal cases in Hillsborough County. In 2003, Miriam joined the Law Firm of Isaak & Zwirn, P.A. Miriam now practices with her husband, Jason at the Law Office of Valkenburg & Velez, P.A. where they focus on criminal defense, personal injury, contracts litigation and family law.

It is with the full support of family and friends that Miriam pursues her career goal of serving the citizens of the United States as a Circuit Court Judge