Former Florida Republican State Sen. Frank Artiles was arrested Thursday for allegedly violating election laws in last year’s state Senate race.
Local broadcaster WSVN reports that Artiles faces several charges, including illegal contributions to the campaign.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle has alleged that Artiles planted a shadow candidate in the Florida Senate District 37 election to defeat his Democratic leader Jose Javier Rodriguez.
“What is a crime is to make illegal contributions to the campaign for a candidate to run,” Fernandez Rundle said.
When voters voted last November, Republican candidate Ileana Garcia, incumbent Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez and Alex Rodriguez were fielded as candidates, WSVN reports. Investigators allege that Artiles put Alex Rodriguez in the running in hopes that voters would be confused and therefore withdraw the Democratic candidate’s votes.
According to WSVN, the arrest warrant alleges that Artiles paid Alex Rodriguez $ 44,000 to run in the election. Artiles reportedly began his election plot in August when he first contacted Rodriguez on Facebook.
Arthur’s arrest comes a day after authorities stormed his home and seized several boxes of evidence.
William Barzee, Rodriguez’s attorney, who was also arrested, appeared to admit to the plot, accusing Artiles of guilt and suggesting the former state lawmaker had taken advantage of his client.
“Frank Artiles and his conspirators knew they couldn’t beat Jose Javier Rodriguez in a fair election, so they fixed it,” Barzee told WSVN. “Artiles cynically pointed out and used a vulnerable ‘friend’ with a big name to confuse voters and steal the election. Alex Rodriguez deeply regrets letting himself be used in this way and hopes that coming out with the truth can help correct these mistakes ”.
Artiles resigned from the Florida state senate in 2017 after using the word n in a conversation with black colleagues. Artiles had been talking about how Senate President Joe Negron was elected Republican Party leader, saying “six n ——” had elected Negron. It is unclear who Artiles was referring to as there were no black members of the Florida meeting group when Artiles made his statements.