Former Florida state Senator Frank Artiles (R-Fl.) was taken into custody by federal authorities and charged with felony election fraud, The Miami Herald reports. The arrest comes one day after police raided the home of the former legislator.
“Frank Artiles, the Republican political operative suspected of secretly arranging a sham candidate to run in a key 2020 state senate race, surrendered to a Miami-Dade County jail on Thursday to face felony campaign finance charges,” The Herald reported Thursday. “Artiles, himself a former state senator, was seen arriving at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, along with his lawyer.”
The newspaper added: “Artiles is facing several charges, including felony charges for making illegal contributions and false swearing in connection to the election, according to a copy of the arrest warrant,” the newspaper reported. “Prosecutors say Artiles offered Alexis (Alex) Pedro Rodriguez $50,000 to run in the race to ‘siphon votes from the incumbent,’ Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez. Half was to be paid during the election and the rest after the election, Alex Rodriguez told prosecutors.”
“The race pitted former TV personality Ileana Garcia, a Republican, against incumbent Jose Javier Rodriguez, a Democrat. Alex Rodriguez ran as an independent, did zero campaigning and took no calls from the media before the Nov. 3 election. But his candidacy was bolstered by deceptive political mail advertisements paid for by a dark money group whose address is a UPS store in Atlanta. Jose Javier Rodriguez lost by just 32 votes after a three-day recount, and Alex Rodriguez’s presence on the ballot was widely seen as a political ploy to confuse voters because of their shared last names and the dark money-sponsored political mailers.”
.@KathyFndzRundle reveals criminal charges over election shenanigans for SD37 race.
Says there is no evidence current GOP State Sen. Ileana Garcia knew about the plot, although (I will add) she did benefit from it. pic.twitter.com/2MNxpTO3L7
— Danny Rivero (@TooMuchMe) March 18, 2021
Watch authorities raid Artiles’ home below:
