criminal-law florida court elections campaign
Felony codes in Frank Artiles fake campaign case in Miami-Dade
<p>Frank Artiles, a former Florida state representative and senator, was charged with felonies in connection to a scam candidate scheme in Miami Dade County. There was a general question asked about the legality of fake campaigns over in politics, and <a href="https://politics.stackexchange.com/a/69356/7226">one answer</a> mentioned this case. Commenters seemed to suspect that Mr. Artiles is not charged because a &quot;fake campaign&quot; would be illegal (on what counts? Lying in politics?) but because more specific campaign finance and election laws were violated in the process. I looked up the case, F-21-004768-B / 13-2021-CF-004768-B000-XX, in the publicly searchable <a href="https://www2.miami-dadeclerk.com/cjis/CaseSearch.aspx" rel="noreferrer">case database of Miami Dade</a>.</p>
<p>The case, which is pending, lists the following charges:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>CAM CONTR/ACC 2&gt;CONT</p>
<p>ELECTION CODE/FALSE</p>
<p>VOTER REG/FLS INFO</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While &quot;Voter reg[istration]/f[a]ls[e] info&quot; seems self explanatory, the other ones are not, to me. What precisely has Mr. Artiles been charged with?</p>

<p>&quot;CAM CONTR/ACC 2&gt;CONT&quot; refers to <a href="https://law.justia.com/codes/florida/2014/title-ix/chapter-106/section-106.08/" rel="noreferrer">F.S. 106.08(7)(B)</a>, under which Artiles is charged with &quot;making or receiving <strong>two or more</strong> <strong>cam</strong>paign <strong>contr</strong>ibutions over or in excess of the limits,&quot; as well as engaging in a conspiracy to do so.</p>
<p>&quot;ELECTION CODE/FALS&quot; refers to <a href="https://law.justia.com/codes/florida/2014/title-ix/chapter-104/section-104.011/" rel="noreferrer">F.S. 104.011(1)</a>, under which Artiles is charged with &quot;swearing or affirming <strong>fal</strong>sely to any oath or affirmation, or willfully procuring another person to swear or affirm falsely to an oath or affirmation, in connection with or arising out of voting or <strong>election</strong>s&quot;</p>
<p>&quot;VOTER REG/FLS INFO&quot; refers to <a href="https://law.justia.com/codes/florida/2014/title-ix/chapter-104/section-104.011/" rel="noreferrer">F.S. 104.011(1)</a>, under which Artiles is charged with aiding and abetting another to &quot;submit any <strong>false</strong> <strong>voter reg</strong>istration <strong>info</strong>rmation.&quot;</p>
<p>More information about the factual basis for the charges is available in the arrest warrant <a href="https://www.miamiherald.com/latest-news/article250029104.ece/BINARY/Artiles%20%26%20Rodriguez%20Warrant%20(redacted).pdf" rel="noreferrer">here</a>.</p>

<p><a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Frank_Artiles#Campaign_finance_charges_.28March_2021.29" rel="noreferrer">Ballotpedia</a> describes the alleged crimes as:</p>
<blockquote>
<ol>
<li>one count of false swearing in connection with voting or elections</li>
<li>one count of making or receiving campaign contributions over or in excess of limits</li>
<li>one count of conspiracy to make or receive two or more campaign contributions over or in excess of limits.</li>
</ol>
</blockquote>
<p>It is hard to pinpoint which of the three is exactly which. To the best of my deduction, it appears that charge 2 (campaign contributions in excess of limits) would be under Cam Contr/Acc, as that seems to match best with Campaign Contributions &amp; Accounting. Charge 3 appears to be most likely the Voter Registration/Falsification of Information, while the conspiracy most likely is the Election Code/False [Swearing]</p>
