Evidence in the trial against former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum suggests nearly $250,000 in grant funding and campaign contributions were transferred to Gillum's employer while he was running for governor.
Testimony from people who worked with Gillum, along with expense reports, emails, text messages and bank records shown in court over the last few days suggest nearly $250,000 in campaign contributions and grant funds went to P&P Communications, the firm that employed Gillum at the time. P&P is owned by Sharon Lettman-Hicks, who's also on trial.
Gillum was first indicted last year on charges of lying to the FBI and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Lettman-Hicks is also facing several counts of the conspiracy charge. They've both pleaded not guilty. Their trial began last Monday, and is expected to end sometime next week.
Records show $50K in Campaign to Defend Local Solutions money was paid to Lettman-Hicks' firm
The Campaign to Defend Local Solutions (CDLS) was a Gillum-led project in 2016 - 2018 that raised public awareness of state preemption laws, which limit local authority.
Witness testimony, emails and other documents show Gillum sought grant funding for CDLS and helped secure about $200,000 from different foundations. Records shown to the jury by the prosecution show most of that money went into the campaign, but about $50,000 went into P&P Communications.
In Spring 2017, two $25,000 checks were deposited into P&P Communications' account. This week, prosecutors showed the jury deposit slips and images of the checks, which were signed by Lettman-Hicks. The checks were designated for CDLS, with the words "CDLS vendor" written on one check and "Re: CDLS" written on the other. They were from the National Black Justice Coalition, the organization in charge of dispersing the grant money for the campaign.
Mike Alfano testified to the jury on Monday that he was the only salaried employee for CDLS.
In September 2018, Alfano asked Lettman-Hicks for more money to pay outstanding invoices. She explained to Alfano in an email that $50,000 had been “frozen” until they could secure more funding for the campaign. In the email, she said the instruction to freeze $50,000 was "per MAG," which stood for Mayor Andrew Gillum.
On cross examination, Alfano testified that the campaign was close to exceeding its budget when Lettman-Hicks told him that they were holding off on spending money until they could get commitments for more grant funding.
When he met with Lettman-Hicks in person, Alfano testified that she gave another reason for why they were freezing the funds: “She said something along the lines of ‘He’s not doing this for free,’” Alfano testified, referring to Mayor Gillum. “I believe that’s what she said.”
After their conversation, Alfano followed up with Gillum and sent the following text message:
“Mayor, just want to confirm that you directed Sharon to freeze 50K of our funding…”
Gillum replied, “I was not aware. I will check.”
Check back for updates.
