MIAMI — A former Florida state Republican senator has been charged with three criminal counts related to an investigation into a sham candidate who authorities say was intended to siphon votes away from a Democratic incumbent.
An arrest warrant says Frank Artiles, the former senator from the Miami area, gave more than $44,000 to the no-party candidate in the 2020 election.
That candidate, Alex Rodriguez, has the same last name as the then-Democratic incumbent, Jose Javier Rodriguez.
He ran as an independent in a three-way state Senate race, which was won by Republican Ileana Garcia by just 32 votes. She's not implicated in the scheme.
Local 10 reports the candidate he paid was a "deep-in-debt machinery rep" who lived two counties away. Without campaigning, the outlet says he was able to get more than 6,000 votes.
Artiles' Palmetto Bay home was raided by the public corruption task force for the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office Wednesday, according to the Miami Herald. Several box loads of items were said to have been seized.
The former senator's defense lawyer told the newspaper that he has been "fully cooperative" with the investigation.
He now faces charges related to making and accepting campaign contributions, conspiring to violate election codes, and false swearing to an oath.
Alex Rodriguez was also charged Thursday with election law violations.
Rodriguez's lawyer, William Barzee, told Local 10 that Artiles and his co-conspirators knew they couldn't win in a fair election and instead rigged it.
"Artiles cynically targeted and used a vulnerable 'friend' with a great name to run in the race in order to confuse voters and steal the election. Alex Rodriguez deeply regrets allowing himself to be used in this way and hopes that by coming forth with the truth he can help to right these wrongs," Barzee said.
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