Gillum, who narrowly lost to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2018, conspired with his mentor, Sharon Lettman-Hicks, to reroute campaign contributions for personal use, federal prosecutors said.
Lettman-Hicks, who was also indicted, helped to divert a portion of the donations to a company she controlled and masked the fraud by painting the funds as payroll payments to Gillum.“Every campaign I’ve run has been done with integrity,” he said in a statement. “Make no mistake that this case is not legal, it is political. Throughout my career I have always stood up for the people of Florida and have spoken truth to power.
Gillum receded from the public eye after he was found with an overdosed male prostitute in a South Beach hotel room in March 2020. Married with three children, Gillum came out as bisexual after the episode. Long considered a rising Democratic phenom in Florida, he lost to DeSantis by a razor thin margin of roughly 30,000 votes.“The government got it wrong today,”“The evidence in this case is clear and will show that Mr. Gillum is innocent of all charges. We look forward to putting this case to rest and giving Andrew and his family peace of mind once and for all.”
Some of the charges stemmed from conduct predating Gillum’s run for statewide office, according to federal prosecutors.Gillum faces a maximum prison term of 20 years in prison for the top counts against him and is expected to appear in a Florida courtroom at 2 p.m.
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