Former DeSantis opponent Andrew Gillum arrested by FBI for wire fraud

The former Democratic mayor of Tallahassee, Fla., and Democratic nominee in the state’s 2018 governors’ race was indicted by a grand jury and arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday.

The 21-count indictment against Andrew Gillum, 42, and consultant Sharon Janet Lettman-Hicks, 53, regards a ploy to raise money “through false and fraudulent promises and representations that the funds would be used for a legitimate purpose,” according to a statement by the Justice Department.

Some of those funds were then funneled through a company Lettman-Hicks owned to Gillum for personal use, disguised as payroll, according to the statement.

Both were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 19 counts of wire fraud. Gillum was also charged with one count of lying to the FBI.

Gillum lost a salary of $122,500 per year when he resigned from his previous position in 2017 to begin campaigning for the Democratic nomination for governor. He had “significant personal expenses” at the time, according to the indictment.  

He won and became the Democratic nominee but lost narrowly to Republican Ron DeSantis in the general election.

One of the charges Gillum faces stems from a 2016 trip to New York City, where he bought tickets to watch the Broadway show, “Hamilton,” using funds from an undercover FBI agent posing as a developer seeking Gillum’s “help in approving projects,” reports NPR.

Gillum denied in later interviews with the FBI that he received anything of value from the “developer.”

Other wire fraud charges pertain to how Gillum and Lettman-Hicks allegedly defrauded an individual donor to his campaign for governor of $150,000 of a $250,000 contribution.

Attorneys for Gillum maintain his innocence, saying in a statement to WSJ: “Every campaign I’ve run has been done with integrity. Make no mistake that this case is not legal, it is political.”