The Miami Herald reports:
Frank Artiles, the Republican political operative suspected of secretly arranging a sham candidate to run in a key 2020 state senate race, surrendered to a Miami-Dade County jail on Thursday to face felony campaign finance charges.
Artiles, himself a former state senator, was seen arriving at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, along with his lawyer.
His surrender came one day after the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office Public Corruption Task Force executed a search warrant at his Palmetto Bay house. Authorities are expected to announce details of the charges at a press conference Thursday afternoon.
Miami’s ABC News affiliate reports:
Frank Artiles was booked into Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on Thursday, a day after his Palmetto Bay home was raided. Shill candidate Alex Rodriguez was also booked Thursday morning.
According to a warrant obtained by Local 10 News, investigators say Artiles offered to pay Rodriguez $50,000 — half during the election and half afterward — for Rodriguez to enter November’s District 37 state senate race, where he shared a last name with the incumbent Democrat candidate Jose Javier Rodriguez.
In total, investigators found that $44,708.03 was paid by Artiles to Rodriguez “for changing his party affiliation, qualifying as an independent candidate for Senate Seat 37, and attempting to [siphon] votes from the incumbent candidate.”
From Alex Rodriguez‘s attorney… arrest warrant shows he (the shill candidate) has been spilling the beans on Frank Artiles since the day police brought him in for questioning.@WPLGLocal10 pic.twitter.com/PAugmvEe8u
— Glenna Milberg (@GlennaWPLG) March 18, 2021
#BREAKING: Ex-GOP State Senator @Artiles40 — who resigned after belittling Black lawmakers and using the N-word — UNDER ARREST in election fraud case into whether he illegally funded shill candidate in 2020 race #BecauseMiami https://t.co/S9P68XqrmJ
— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) March 18, 2021
“Republican challenger @IleanaGarciaUSA ultimately defeated Jose Javier Rodriguez @JoseJavierJJR by just 32 votes for that seat. The plant candidate Alex Rodriguez got over 6,000 votes despite not actually campaigning, nor having actual political aspirations.”
— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) March 18, 2021