Former state Senator Artiles found guilty of campaign finance and registration violations

Former Florida Sen. Frank Artiles, an ex-Marine who more recently has shaped political campaigns as a lobbyist and consultant, was found guilty Monday of campaign finance and voter registration violations in a trial that showed the underbelly of Florida politics.

It took a Miami-Dade jury just over six hours to reach a unanimous verdict in a case built around political operatives and a “ghost candidate” who likely tipped a tight election. Sparked by a scheme to help Senate Republicans flip a seat in 2020, the two-week trial engrossed Florida’s political establishment from Miami to Tallahassee.

Artiles and his attorneys stood stoic as the verdict was read, their hands clasped in front of them, family members and friends standing along rows of benches behind. The former senator was fingerprinted but not handcuffed — his family surrounding him blocking the view — before being released by Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Miguel M. de la O.

Artiles wouldn’t comment as the group made its way out of the courtroom. Defense attorney Frank Quintero thanked the jurors, then promised an appeal. As he addressed the media, Quintero said he found it helpful that jurors listed all the instances they considered excessive contributions from Artiles to Alexis Rodriguez, an independent candidate whose only purpose in the race was to hurt the Democratic incumbent.

“They were actually business transactions that he [Rodriguez] screwed Mr. Artiles for,” said Quintero. “It’s going to be a long fight. This fight is not over.”

Artiles, 51, married with two daughters, was found guilty of excessive campaign contributions, conspiracy to commit excessive contributions and falsely swearing an oath, all felonies that could carry five-year sentences. He was cleared of a fourth charge, aiding a false registration.

His convictions could land him in prison for as many as 15 years, though that long a term is unlikely.

Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle applauded the jury for understanding the case’s complexities and realizing that Artiles was the “mastermind” of the “ghost candidate scandal.”

“These felony convictions show that the jurors agreed that we can not tolerate the violation of our laws to gain a political advantage,” she said in a prepared statement.

Judge de la O is expected to sentence Artiles some time after Oct. 21.

READ MORE: Lobbyist said she heard Artiles brag about election win.

During the two-week trial, it was explained how a long-time Republican party operative reached out to Artiles for help in the 2020 race for the District 37 Senate seat, which at the time covered a large swath of Miami-Dade County from Miami Beach south and through Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay.

Lead prosecutor Tim VanderGiesen explained to jurors how the former state senator — after working out a contract agreement with the owner of a Gainesville-area Republican political research and marketing firm — engineered a plan to run and promote a machine parts salesman as a third-party candidate in the race in order to siphon votes from the Democratic front-runner.

The plan worked.

Ileana Garcia, a former Spanish radio host and founder of Latinas for Trump, defeated Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez by a mere 32 votes after a recount. VanderGiesen told jurors that Alexis Rodriguez — the ghost candidate running as an independent — was promised $50,000 by Artiles. In a race decided by less than three-dozen votes after a runoff, more than 6,000 residents voted for Alexis Rodriguez.

The payoffs came in different forms, prosecutors said. Besides four payments totaling $22,000 in cash, Alexis Rodriguez was given another $22,000 through tuition payments for his daughter, money alleged to be going to the purchase of a truck for Artiles’ daughter and reimbursements. In total, the state said Alexis Rodriguez collected $44,708.03 in cash and gifts.

Artiles was paid $90,000 to help win Miami races by Data Targeting founder Patrick Bainter, a top consultant for Florida’s Senate Republicans. Bainter placed another $100,000 in a political action committee associated with Artiles.

READ MORE: ‘Knock yourself out.’ Top Florida GOP operative blessed Artiles’ ‘ghost candidate’ pitch

SENATE SEAT UNRAVELED QUICKLY

Artiles served three terms in the Florida House before winning a Senate seat in 2016. His senate term unraveled quickly. He resigned less than a year after being elected and after using racial slurs and uttering profanities while talking to a group of Black elected leaders in Tallahassee.

Then, just over a year after Garcia’s unexpected 2020 victory, Artiles was charged with the four felonies. Alexis Rodriguez was charged with the same four felonies, but avoided conviction in exchange for his testimony against Artiles.

During closing arguments Monday morning, defense attorney Jose Quiñon told jurors the plot to unseat Democratic incumbent Sen. Jose Javier Rodriguez began with the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, the main campaign vehicle for Florida’s Senate Republicans. The committee contacted Bainter, and Bainter, looking for information on the ground in Miami, reached out to some folks he knew in West Palm Beach. They recommended Artiles.

Aritles, who knew Alexis Rodriguez through a family member, promised him he would be coached and wouldn’t have to campaign.

Under Florida law, none of that is illegal. Directly giving a candidate more than $1,000, however, is.

And Monday, on the verdict form, jurors wrote out exactly which acts they believe Artiles committed that were illegal. They listed six instances when the lobbyist gave the candidate money or gifts totaling $26,812.92. Among the payments: $2,000 to cover the registration fee to become a candidate, $6,784.39 to cover tuition for the candidate’s daughter’s private high school, a $2,400 rent payment and $9,000 from Artiles’ brother-in-law.

During the trial, Alexis Rodriguez said the only reason he agreed to change his party affiliation and run in the race was because he was broke and just divorced. He told jurors he was ashamed and said the only reason he agreed to the plan was because he needed money.

Garcia, the unexpected victor, has always been controversial. She once said she believed people could outgrow being gay, but later apologized. She also authored a bill to spend $5 million on former President Donald Trump’s legal bills. The bill didn’t pass. Jose Javier Rodriguez now works as an assistant secretary for the Labor Department in Washington D.C.