Ex-candidate admits role in election scam
Secretly took more than $44,000, ran to siphon votes, confuse, he says
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A sham candidate for the Florida Legislature pleaded guilty Tuesday to being part of a vote-siphoning scheme in last year’s election and will testify against a former Republican state senator who prosecutors say ran it.
Alex Rodriguez agreed to testify against former Sen. Frank Artiles after pleading guilty in Miami-Dade County to accepting illegal campaign donations and lying on campaign documents. He will get three years of probation if he cooperates, including a year of house arrest. He had faced a possible 20-year prison sentence.
Prosecutors in March charged Artiles with felony campaign fraud charges, saying he secretly gave more than $44,000 to Rodriguez so he could run in the 2020 election to confuse voters and siphon ballots from then-Democratic Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez. The funds reportedly came from a dark money source. Artiles has pleaded innocent.
Alex Rodriguez, a 55-yearold auto parts salesman with no political experience, ran as an independent in the three-way race in Miami-Dade County, pulling in 6,000 votes. The race was won by Republican Ileana Garcia by just 32 votes. She is not implicated in the scheme.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement that the guilty plea “is an important step in the effort to restore honesty to Florida’s election process, which has been tarnished too long by almost invisible, independent and write-in candidates.”
“I am deeply sorry for my actions, and I want to apologize to my family, my loved ones and my friends,” Alex Rodriguez tearfully told the court, according to news outlets. “I would like to publicly offer a sincere apology to the residents of Florida District Senate 37 including Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez, the people of Miami-Dade County and the state of Florida, and anyone else who was affected by my actions.”
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement that the guilty plea “is an important step in the effort to restore honesty to Florida’s election process, which has been tarnished too long by almost invisible, independent and write-in candidates.”
Artiles’ attorney, Frank Quintero, said Tuesday that his client denies doing anything illegal. He accused investigators of trying to secretly use Rodriguez as an “agent for the state” against Artiles.
A Miami Police Department investigator’s affidavit details multiple discussions about money between Artiles and Alex Rodriguez, starting with a discussion about why Rodriguez should file to run in the race.
“Rodriguez would run as an independent with the same last name as the incumbent candidate (Jose Javier Rodriguez) in an attempt to confuse voters and siphon votes from the incumbent,” the affidavit says.
But Alex Rodriguez had money troubles, so he came up with various requests to obtain cash from Artiles, according to the affidavit. At one point, Rodriguez said he could get a used Range Rover for Artiles for $10,900, and Artiles agreed.
“It should be noted that the Range Rover did not actually exist. It was a fiction created by Rodriguez to get more of the money that he felt he was owed,” the affidavit says.