TAMPA, Florida — Two years probation. That’s the sentence a Hillsborough County judge decided was appropriate for 49-year-old Nathan Hart.
Hart is the first of about 20 people to have gone to trial after he and several other convicted felons were arrested this past summer by a special voter fraud unit created by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Earlier this month, a jury came back with a split verdict.
While the jury threw out the charge of voting as an unqualified elector, they convicted Hart of lying on his voter registration paperwork. The first thing attorneys for the 49-year-old did before the sentencing was to ask for a new trial. A request the court quickly denied.
Hart faced up to five years in prison.
Judge Laura Ward gave him 24 months probation, 100 hours of community service. And —
“Obviously, no voting. All right?” Ward said.
“I think it was something that was done as a political prop just to justify the committee that he put in there,” Hart said of DeSantis after the hearing. “To get a photo op for himself in front of the country or the state before the previous election.”
At least two of the other cases have already been thrown out, questioning whether the state had jurisdiction. A legal issue that was addressed by republican lawmakers during a special session earlier this month.
With this sentence, Hart avoids jail time, but it’s still a burden, he says on himself and his family.
“I would never have done anything even remotely tied to or doing something wrong if I had any idea that what I was doing could even potentially land me in hot water of any kind,” he said.
Hart had originally been offered a plea deal of two years probation, but prosecutors surprised court watchers by asking for jail time at the hearing.
Ward said if Hart had been convicted on both counts she would have considered giving him jail time. But, since he was acquitted of one of the charges against him, she believed supervision — not incarceration — was the appropriate sentence.
“I’m not looking forward to another nightmare of probation severely limiting what I can do in life for the next two years,” Hart said. “But, like I said, it could’ve been a lot worse.”
In Florida, convicted sex offenders and murderers are still not eligible to have their voting rights restored. Hart’s case was being closely watched by those defending others arrested in the sweep.
"I’ve served my time," Hart said. "I should be done at this point."
Judge Ward told Hart he has 30 days to appeal his sentence, which he says he plans to do.
“Even if I were able to vote I probably would stop at this point,” Hart said. “I’m very disillusioned with the system.”