Former Senator Frank Artiles, GOP in Florida, was arrested Thursday for violating election law in the race’s Senate last year.
The local station WSVN reports that Artiles is facing several charges, including illegal campaign contributions.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle has claimed that Artiles planted a shadow candidate in Senate District 37 in Florida to defeat Democratic President José Javier Rodriguez.
“What is a crime is making illegal contributions to present a candidate,” Fernandez Rundle said.
When voters cast their ballots last November, Republican candidate Ileana Garcia, Democratic President José Javier Rodriguez and Alex Rodriguez were shown as candidates, WSVN reported. Investigators allege that Artiles placed Alex Rodriguez in the race in the hope that voters would be confused and thus take away votes from the Democratic candidate.
According to WSVN, the arrest warrant alleges that Artiles Alex Rodriguez paid $ 44,000 to participate in the election. Artiles reportedly started his election prospect in August when he first contacted Rodriguez on Facebook.
Artiles’ arrest comes one day after authorities raided his home and took several boxes of evidence.
William Barzee, a lawyer for Rodriguez, who was also arrested, apparently acknowledged the conspiracy and blamed Artiles, suggesting the former lawmaker had exploited his client.
“Frank Artiles and his co-conspirators knew they could not defeat Jose Javier Rodriguez in a fair election. confuses voters and steals the election. Alex Rodriguez deeply regrets that he is being used in this way and hopes that he can come forward through the truth to correct this injustice. ”
Artiles resigned from the Florida Senate in 2017 after using the n-word in a conversation with black colleagues. Artiles spoke of Senate President Joe Negron as GOP leader elected, saying ‘six n ——‘ elected Negron. It is unclear who Artiles is referring to, as there were no black members of the Florida GOP caucus when Artiles made his remarks.