Former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum Indicted On 21 Federal Counts, Including Wire Fraud & Making False Statements To FBI

Andrew Gillum

Former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum Indicted On 21 Federal Counts, Including Wire Fraud & Making False Statements To FBI

It seems like trouble has found Andrew Gillum yet again.

Former Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum, who was also a candidate for Governor of Florida in 2018, was indicted on 21 federal counts accusing him of fraudulently handling campaign money.

According to PEOPLE, Gillum and his mentor, Sharon Lettman-Hicks, conspired to commit wire fraud between 2016 and 2019 by using false promises to get funds from donors for his campaign, then creating a workaround to deposit portions of the donations back into Gillum’s personal bank accounts.

Both Gillum and Lettman-Hicks are charged with 19 counts of wire fraud and a charge on conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Gillum is separately being charged with making false statements to FBI agents in reference to the funds.

Andrew Gillum

Gillum and Lettman-Hicks appeared at the US Courthouse in Tallahassee Wednesday afternoon (June 22nd) and pled not guilty to all charges.

NBC News published a statement from Gillum, where he denied the allegations:

““I have spent the last 20 years of my life in public service and continue to fight for the people,”

“Every campaign I’ve run has been done with integrity. Make no mistake that this case is not legal, it is political. Throughout my career I have always stood up for the people of Florida and have spoken truth to power. There’s been a target on my back ever since I was the mayor of Tallahassee. They found nothing then, and I have full confidence that my legal team will prove my innocence now.”

Gillum was once a rising star in the Democratic Party as a frontrunner in the 2018 Florida gubernatorial race, coming close to defeating Ron DeSantis as the head of the Sunshine State. In March 2020, that star fell when Gillum was found inebriated in a Miami hotel room with a male escort who had overdosed.

He then withdrew from the political scene to enter rehab for alcoholism. Later that year, Gillum came out as bisexual during an interview with journalist, Tamron Hall.

The maximum sentence for wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud are 20 years each, respectively, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida. The maximum for making false statements is 5 years.

What do you think about the charges against Andrew Gillum? Let us know in the comments below!