Man Charged after Using Dead People Signatures for Florida Casino Petition
A few years ago, in 2021, those who supported the expansion of casino gambling in North Florida attempted to collect enough signatures on a petition in order to put the issue to voters in the 2022 ballot.
Investigation shows Florida gambling petition has been signed by dead people.
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:To achieve this, almost 815,000 signatures were needed. As part of the effort, Florida Voters in Charge, a political committee, raised close to $75 million. While the money was spent on campaigning, the organization failed to collect enough signatures. Despite this, an investigation took place into the petition, and it found a number of irregularities, including signatures belonging to dead people.
Arrest Made in Miami
The investigation was carried out by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s (FDLE) Election Crime Unit (ECU). It led to charges being filed against a number of people and last week, the FDLE revealed that a 34-year-old from Miami with the initials H.G. has been detained and charged with fraud relating to the petition. The individual was hired by Florida Voters in Charge in 2021 to help collect signatures for the petition.
H.J., a paid petition circulator, is accused of petition fraud on the casino gaming initiative, ‘Limited Authorization of Casino Gaming’.
Investigators found that the man has allegedly included close to a dozen names and signatures of dead people. The man reportedly submitted a total of 3,719 signatures including 10 belonging to dead people.
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Relatives Also under Suspicion
FDLE issued a warrant, and H.J. was arrested in Broward County last month. He was charged with 13 counts of criminal use of personal identification information of deceased individuals. Attorney General Ashley Moody is prosecuting the case, and H.J. has been released on bail.
It was also revealed that H.J. is not the only person involved in the fraudulent activity. Another Miami resident, identified by the initials A.J., and related to H.J., is also under suspicion for similar fraudulent actions connected to the gambling petition. The current whereabouts of A.J. are unknown.
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