The former chief financial officer of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence has asked for a continuance of her scheduled criminal trial after former President and CEO Tiffany Carr pleaded no contest this week to felony charges stemming from allegations of bilking the state out of money earmarked for domestic violence shelters.
Attorneys for former Chief Financial Officer Patricia Duarte filed a motion for a continuance Wednesday, two days after a Leon County circuit judge approved a plea agreement that includes Carr testifying against Duarte.
Carr appeared by Zoom at Monday’s plea hearing because she was being treated for an undisclosed medical condition.
Duarte is scheduled to go on trial Jan. 20. But in the motion for a continuance, her attorneys said Carr has not appeared in Florida during the proceedings and pointed to complications in scheduling a deposition to take Carr’s testimony.
“Ms. Duarte is currently trying to set a date for Ms. Carr’s deposition, as Carr was described this past Monday (during the plea hearing) as ‘vital’ to the government’s case. … Given Ms. Carr’s decision to cooperate against her subordinate employee, defendant Duarte must move for a continuance of the trial,” Duarte’s attorneys wrote.
In announcing charges against Carr and Duarte in 2023, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement alleged that they “submitted false quarterly reports, billed the state for vacant positions and charged for services never provided. The ill-gotten funds were used for excessive bonus and leave payouts to Carr and Duarte in the amounts of $3.4 million to Carr and $291,000 for Duarte.”
Carr pleaded no contest to charges of organized fraud and official misconduct. She is expected to be sentenced to 10 years of probation, contingent on her cooperation in the case against Duarte.
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