The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida said in their announcement that Gillum and Lettman-Hicks conspired to commit wire fraud between 2016 and 2019. They unlawfully solicited and obtained funds from undercover FBI agents and others “through false and fraudulent promises and representations that the funds would be used for a legitimate purpose,” the government said.
Gillum, who served as mayor from 2014 to 2018 after more than a decade as a city commissioner, denied any wrongdoing in a prepared statement issued through his campaign.
“I have spent the last 20 years of my life in public service and continue to fight for the people,” Gillum said in a prepared statement. “Every campaign I’ve run has been done with integrity. Make no mistake that this case is not legal, it is political.”
Gillum went on to say, “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.”
Marc Elias, a prominent Democratic Party elections lawyer, and David Oscar Markus, a Miami criminal-defense attorney, issued a statement saying Gillum would be cleared of the allegations.
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