Jury Acquits Andrew Gillum, Former DeSantis Rival, of Lying to the F.B.I.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A federal jury acquitted Andrew Gillum, the Democrat who lost the 2018 Florida governor’s race to Ron DeSantis, of lying to the F.B.I. on Thursday. But jurors failed to reach a verdict on charges related to whether Mr. Gillum and a close associate diverted campaign funds when Mr. Gillum was running for governor.
After more than four days of deliberation, the 12-member jury said it had reached agreement only on the charge that Mr. Gillum made false statements when the F.B.I. interviewed him in 2017. Judge Allen C. Winsor of the Federal District Court in Tallahassee declared a mistrial on one conspiracy charge and 17 fraud charges against Mr. Gillum and Sharon Lettman-Hicks.
Mr. Gillum, 43, and Ms. Lettman-Hicks, 54, a friend and mentor since he was in college, were indicted last June over how they had raised and used political funds when he was the mayor of Tallahassee and a candidate for governor. Two of the initial 21 charges were dropped just before the trial began last month.
Ms. Lettman-Hicks, who was tried jointly with Mr. Gillum, had been indicted only on the conspiracy and fraud charges on which the jury failed to reach a verdict.
Source: The New York Times
