Government drops charges against Andrew Gillum after mistrial

TALLAHASSEE — Federal prosecutors are dropping the remaining 18 fraud counts against former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum after a jury deadlocked on the charges.

In a Monday filing, prosecutors moved to dismiss the charges, reversing course after earlier telling a federal judge they intended to pursue a new trial. U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor would have to approve the motion.

The decision brings to an end the federal corruption case against Gillum, the 2018 Democratic nominee for Florida governor who came about 32,000 votes shy of defeating then-U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis.

Federal prosecutors last year accused Gillum of steering campaign contributions into his personal accounts by conspiring with his mentor and “political godmother,” Sharon Lettman-Hicks.

They charged him last year with 21 counts, including a single count of lying to FBI agents. On the eve of trial, prosecutors dropped two of the counts.

During the two-week trial in a Tallahassee courtroom, prosecutors described a complicated web of financial transactions that they said showed Gillum and Lettman-Hicks conspiring and committing wire fraud.

The case was based on “circumstantial evidence,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Milligan told jurors, and he urged them to view the evidence in its totality.

Ultimately, $57,000 illegally made it into Gillum’s bank accounts, according to Gillum’s indictment. The campaign raised about $37 million.

Gillum’s attorneys repeatedly pointed out that prosecutors had no direct evidence of the alleged scheme.

After deliberating for about four days, the jury on May 4 found Gillum not guilty of lying to the FBI. They couldn’t agree on the other 18 counts, but jurors later told the Tallahassee Democrat that they were 10-2 in favor of finding him not guilty, and some called the government’s case “beyond flimsy.”

Several jurors said in a letter that the federal government should not continue pursuing the case, the Democrat reported.

In a statement Monday, Gillum’s attorneys — David O. Markus, Margot Moss and Katie Miller — thanked the jury for doing “their job” and for explaining “to the government why it should drop the case.”

“Andrew Gillum had the courage to stand up and say I am innocent. And that is finally being recognized,” they said. “Andrew has endured a lot over the past few years and now can resume his life and public service.”

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Wednesday.