TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In the corruption trial of former Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, the jury discussed for several hours on Friday before taking the weekend off. Gillum came within a hair’s breadth of beating Republican Ron DeSantis in the election that took place in 2018.
After what seemed like an eternity, the federal prosecutors and defense counsel finally presented their concluding statements and arguments on Friday morning.
Later in the day, it was reported in the Tallahassee Democrat that the jurors had three questions: Is it possible to find one of the defendants guilty of fraud while clearing the other? When will the jury be excused from the court for the day? And how would you describe a material fact to someone who doesn’t work in this field?
U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor answered by stating that one defendant may be found guilty but the other defendant cannot, that jurors can take a break at any time and return either Saturday or Monday, and that the concept of what constitutes a relevant fact is already included in the jury instructions.
The jury is going to meet again on Monday morning.
Gillum has been charged by the prosecutors with utilizing a phony position at a public relations business owned by a buddy to divert tens of thousands of dollars in campaign funds to personal bank accounts. They said that Gillum was having trouble making ends meet when he left his employment with the People for the American Way organization, which paid him $120,000 annually, to run for governor.
The counsel for the defense has contended that the public relations work was entirely above board.
In addition, it is alleged that Gillum lied to undercover FBI agents masquerading as developers who paid for a trip that Gillum had with his brother to New York in 2016, during which they saw a performance of the popular Broadway production “Hamilton.”
Gillum is facing the possibility of a substantial prison term; but, according to the federal sentencing guidelines, it is quite probable that he will get a sentence that is far less than the maximum.
Sharon Lettman-Hicks, who worked as a public relations professional and advised Gillum, has also been charged in connection with the investigation.
When he ran against Ron DeSantis in 2018, Andrew Gillum, 43, a former mayor of Tallahassee, had the goal of becoming the first Black governor in the history of Florida. Gillum was defeated by DeSantis by a margin of less than 34,000 votes, which triggered an automatic recount.
