By Arian Campo-Flores Follow | The Wall Street Journal
Democrat denies charges, calls federal case political
Andrew Gillum, the former mayor of Tallahassee, Fla., and Democratic nominee for Florida governor in 2018, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges including wire fraud and arrested Wednesday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to court documents
The 21-count indictment against Mr. Gillum, 42 years old, and a
political consultant, Sharon Lettman-Hicks, 53, also alleges
that they made false statements to the FBI.
The two illegally solicited and obtained funds from various
people and entities “through false and fraudulent promises and
representations that the funds would be used for a legitimate
purpose,” according to a news release by the Justice Department.
Mr. Gillum said in a statement provided by his attorneys, “Every
campaign I’ve run has been done with integrity. Make no mistake
that this case is not legal, it is political.”
The two defendants used third parties to divert a portion of the
funds to a company owned by Ms. Lettman-Hicks, the release said.
She then fraudulently provided the funds, which were disguised
as payroll payments, to Mr. Gillum for his personal use,
according to the release.
The wire fraud charges carry maximum prison terms of 20 years
and the charges of making false statements have maximum terms of
five years. Ms. Lettman-Hicks agreed to surrender to the FBI on
Wednesday morning, according to a court filing. The two
defendants were scheduled to appear in federal court in
Tallahassee on Wednesday afternoon.
Mr. Gillum was once considered a rising star in Florida
Democratic politics. He narrowly lost to Republican Ron DeSantis
in the 2018 gubernatorial election.
