Former Florida state Sen. Frank Artiles was convicted by a Miami-Dade Circuit Court jury on Monday evening on three felony counts related to payments made to a no-party candidate to siphon votes from the Democratic incumbent in the state’s 2020 “ghost candidates” scandal. Artiles was acquitted on a fourth count but was found guilty of conspiracy, making campaign contributions above the legal limit, and “false swearing.” This involved instructing the candidate on how to fill out paperwork despite living outside the district.
The ghost candidate, Alex Rodriguez, admitted to his role in exchange for leniency, serving six months of house arrest and three years of probation. The trial revealed that Artiles, backed by a consulting company working for Florida Power & Light, was part of an effort to achieve a Republican supermajority in the Florida Senate by running spoiler candidates in key races. The utility was also pursuing its legislative priorities through these actions, including escaping liability for damages related to outages and increasing electricity rates.
Key witnesses in the trial included political consultant Patrick Bainter, who paid Artiles for running a ghost candidate, and ghost candidate Rodriguez himself. Rodriguez testified that he received payments from Artiles but admitted to fabricating business deals to extract more money out of fear Artiles would not fulfill his promise of $50,000. The defense attempted to establish reasonable doubt about the nature of these transactions.
Artiles faced up to five years in prison per count, and the jury deliberated for seven hours before reaching its verdict. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Miguel De La O presided over the trial, highlighting the fraudulent nature of the campaign and the efforts to influence the 2020 election. Overall, the trial revealed a complex web of dark money political schemes aimed at influencing election outcomes in Florida.
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