Jury finds ex-Florida senator guilty in ‘ghost candidate' scheme
After more than two weeks of trial, jurors on Monday found former Republican State Senator Frank Artiles guilty of most of his charges in a "ghost candidate" scheme.
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.
Jurors found Artiles guilty of excessive campaign contributions, specifically six that totaled up to $26,812.92. He was also convicted of conspiring to make campaign contributions and...
