Hope Florida grand jury likely probing alleged financial crimes

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Leon County grand jury probing Hope Florida, the controversial charity spearheaded by First Lady Casey DeSantis, is likely considering a range of possible financial crimes, according to attorneys with knowledge of its scope and process.

Interviews and observations by news organizations including the Orlando Sentinel indicate the grand jury met last week behind closed doors to review evidence and question witnesses in the matter.

Leon County State Attorney Jack Campbell, a Democrat, appointed a grand jury to investigate accusations made in April by Rep. Alex Andrade, R-Pensacola. Andrade accused Gov. Ron DeSantis’ then chief of staff, James Uthmeier, of diverting $10 million from a Medicaid settlement into a political campaign to defeat a ballot initiative to legalize marijuana.

That money was intended to pay for healthcare and reimburse Medicaid, Andrade said.

Due to the nature of the allegations, the grand jury is likely focusing on state laws dealing with using telecommunications to commit fraud, money laundering and official misconduct, according to several criminal defense lawyers who have followed the case.

“This is not what you would normally see in a state court,” said Stephen Webster, a criminal defense lawyer who frequently represents police officers facing grand jury investigations. “They would typically rely on federal grand juries for this type of case.”

Because the alleged crimes involve Medicaid dollars, Hope Florida could also draw the attention of the FBI and the Department of Justice. Andrade said he turned over material to federal authorities, but there has been no confirmation of a federal investigation.

Prosecutors typically use grand juries in controversial and sensitive cases instead of filing criminal charges directly. And the Hope Florida case has the potential for huge political blowback because it focuses on officials within the Republican governor’s inner orbit, is based on accusations levied by a Republican lawmaker and is being directed by a Democratic prosecutor.

“It’s a confidential function of the state, and the governor is the chief officer of the state,” said Don Pumphrey Jr., a criminal defense lawyer and former state prosecutor and police officer. “He fires prosecutors and puts other people in office.”

DeSantis has a history of dealing harshly with prosecutors, particularly Democrats, whom he views as acting inappropriately. He suspended Orange-Osceola County State Attorney Monique Worrell in 2023 and Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren in 2022.

The grand jury could work for months and in the end indict any number of unnamed state officials — or it could decide no action is needed. If it finds questionable actions, but not evidence of crimes, it also could issue a report scolding officials for their bad behavior.

Because of the secretive and unpredictable nature of grand juries, what happens next is anyone’s guess. One thing is certain: Its outcome is always guided by the prosecutor in charge.

“The grand jury has no clue why it’s there, what it’s supposed to be doing, when it can leave, and rely on the prosecutor to tell them what to do next,” said Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale. “That is why I always say he’s like a ring leader in a circus.”

Stephen Dobson, another veteran criminal defense attorney in the state’s capitol, agreed. He said the prosecutor’s role “is to give legal advice, define what constitutes a crime, the elements of a crime and so on.”

The process can legitimize charges against high-ranking officials by acting as a check on prosecutorial powers.

But the grand jury process has also been criticized for lacking transparency and allowing prosecutors to present a one-sided case. Uthmeier and others accused in the Hope Florida scandal, which roiled the Legislature in its spring session, all have denied wrongdoing.

While little is known publicly about the particulars of the grand jury probe into Hope Florida, several key players, including Andrade, the former president of the Hope Florida Foundation and the chair of an anti-marijuana group that helped funnel the money to the political committee were seen last week entering the courthouse, according to the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times, leaving no doubt about the subject of the proceedings.

Campbell, the jurors and witnesses are sworn to secrecy during grand jury proceedings, and anyone who violates that confidentiality can face criminal charges. Last week, Campbell told reporters that he had no comment about the proceedings.

“Guys, if I could talk about it I would,” he said.

This week, Campbell told the Orlando Sentinel that he didn’t expect any immediate action from the grand jury.

“You never can tell what a grand jury is doing,” Pumphrey said. But when a grand jury gets down to calling witnesses, it usually means “they’re running out of time,” he said.

The facts laid out by Andrade’s investigation and reported in the Orlando Sentinel and other news outlets makes a case for a number of charges, including organizing to defraud and using communications devices to commit fraud, as well as money laundering and official misconduct.

Centene, a Medicaid provider, paid Florida a $67 million settlement because it had overcharged the state. Andrade argued all that money should have gone back into state accounts. But at the last minute DeSantis administration officials demanded that $10 million go to Hope Florida Foundation.

Uthmeier allegedly contacted Mark Wilson of the Florida Chamber of Commerce to apply for some of that $10 million, Andrade said, though he has no text messages or emails to prove it.

Andrade did obtain text message showing Uthmeier contacted Amy Ronshausen of Save Our Society from Drugs, requesting she ask for some of the money, and connected her to Jeff Aaron, the foundation’s lawyer, who also admitted to providing her with instructions on how to have the money wired into her organization’s bank account.

Aaron also forwarded Ronshausen a copy of the letter from Wilson requesting $5 million, which she used as a template for her request. Both nonprofits pledged not to use the funds for political reasons, but within days sent a combined $8.5 million to Uthmeier’s Keep Florida Clean political committee. Keep Florida Clean then spent millions buying ads opposing Amendment 3 in the month leading up to the November election.

Organized fraud is defined in state law as a systematic ongoing course of action using communications to illegally obtain property by false pretenses or misrepresentations. Given the amount of money involved, a felony charge could be filed.

Once a prosecutor lays out information and calls witnesses, he will discuss the findings with the grand jury. Depending on the feedback he gets, the prosecutor will decide whether to prepare an indictment, a statement that enough evidence exists to charge people and lays out the crimes.

A grand jury could also decide to instead issue a report called a presentment, which would criticize the people involved. Those people would have a right to read the presentment and file a motion to suppress if they don’t like it, in which case a judge would have to decide whether to make it public.

Andrade appeared at the Leon County Courthouse last week. Andrade led the legislative probe into the Hope Florida Foundation in April, and his efforts angered fellow GOP members in the DeSantis administration but had the backing of Republican leadership in the Florida House.

He told the Orlando Sentinel he showed up to comply with a subpoena from the grand jury and spent about two hours in the courthouse.

“I can’t talk about anything other than that,” Andrade said.

Pumphrey said the grand jury is in capable hands with Campbell. “He is a good state attorney who will seek the truth,” be thorough, and “do the right thing.”

But no one can predict what happens next, Jarvis said. “In these kinds of high profile cases we have to expect the unexpected,” he added.