In this Nov. 10, 2018 file photo, Andrew Gillum speaks at a news conference in Tallahassee, Fla. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon, File)
Disgraced Democrat Florida politician Andrew Gillum will have corruption charges against him dropped, according to federal prosecutors. The former Tallahassee mayor and Democratic gubernatorial nominee was found not guilty of lying to the FBI and the jury deadlocked on other charges.
On May 15, in a filing in the U.S. District Court, the government “respectfully moves that this court dismiss the indictment against the Defendants Andrew Gillum and Sharon Lettman-Hicks,” Tallahassee.com reported.
Lettman-Hicks was arrested in 2022 with Gillum on charges they funneled campaign contributions to themselves. She has been running for a Florida House seat at the time.
Jurors favored acquitting the two and urged prosecutors to drop the case. The jury deadlocked on 18 other conspiracy and wire fraud counts against both defendants. The remaining counts dealt with the financial arrangements involving his campaign and non-profit organizations, Politico reported.
Federal authorities indicted Gillum on 21 charges in June 2022. They contended that Gillum illegally solicited campaign contributions between 2016 and 2019 and promised political favors in exchange for political support. Gillum pleaded not guilty.
The trial began in April.
“Andrew Gillum had the courage to stand up and say I am innocent. And that is finally being recognized,” his defense attorneys David Oscar Markus, Margot Moss and Katie Miller said in a statement. “We want to thank the hard-working jury who did their job and explained to the government why it should drop the case. Andrew has endured a lot over the past few years and now can resume his life and public service.”
A federal judge is scheduled to hold a hearing on the case on May 17 to sign off on the prosecutors’ decision to drop the charges.
Soon after the announcement was made, Gillum tweeted out a screenshot of the government motion in which he said “But God” and emojis including hands in prayer.
Gillum had been a rising Democratic star. He narrowly lost to Republican Ron DeSantis in the 2018 governor’s race. Then scandal hit in March 2020 after police found him in a Miami Beach hotel room with a male who is suspected to have overdosed. Police found three bags of suspected crystal meth, but Gillum claimed he’d had too much alcohol to drink but did not do any drugs.
Six months following the incident, Gillum, who is married with three children, said he was bisexual.
In this Nov. 10, 2018 file photo, Andrew Gillum, then-Democratic candidate for governor, speaks at a news conference in Tallahassee, Fla. Gillum, the 2018 Democratic nominee for Florida governor, is facing 21 federal charges related to a scheme to seek donations and funnel a portion of them back to him through third parties. The U.S. attorney’s office announced the indictment, June 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Steve Cannon, File)
