A former Republican state senator found guilty of multiple charges related to a "ghost candidate" scheme in South Florida is scheduled to be sentenced Monday.
Frank Artiles was found guilty in September of excessive campaign contributions, conspiring to make campaign contributions and procuring the falsification of a candidate oath form. He was found not guilty of procuring falsification of a voter registration form.
The sentencing hearing got underway Monday morning and was continuing in the afternoon.
Authorities claim Artiles recruited "ghost candidate" Alex Rodriguez to run as a third-party candidate to eventually siphon votes from incumbent Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez in the District 37 race in 2020. Rodriguez successfully received over 6,000 votes in the election and Republican candidate Illeana Garcia beat the incumbent by just 32 votes.
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Defense attorneys admitted Artiles paid Rodriguez for an attorney and his daughter's school tuition, but called those payments legal business transactions and not campaign contributions.
On the other hand, prosecutors said those transactions were money Artiles paid Rodriguez to fix the election and lead Republicans to flip the seat. Prosecutors asked why Artiles would recommend an attorney if what they were doing was legal.
Florida law permits ghost candidates but prohibits people making excessive amounts of campaign contributions over $1,000.
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Jose Javier Rodriguez spoke in court during Monday's sentencing hearing, as did Artiles' brother and wife. Artiles teared up as his wife made her emotional plea to the judge.
Artiles' attorney previously said they were disappointed with the verdict and intend to appeal.
