MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – While on the witness stand, during the Miami-Dade County trial against former Florida Sen. Frank Artiles, Alex Rodríguez admitted to being a sham candidate for the Florida Legislature in exchange for $50,000.
During his testimony on Friday, Rodríguez said all he had to do was run against then-Democratic incumbent, Florida Sen. Jose Javier Rodríguez, and Republican candidate Ileana García.
Prosecutors accused Artiles, 50, of committing felony campaign fraud while directing a ploy to confuse Florida District 27 voters who intended to choose the Democrat.
“The Democratic candidate had the same last name as me,” said Alex Rodríguez, an auto parts salesman who pleaded guilty to the related charges in 2021.
5 p.m. report:
About 6,000 cast their ballots for Alex Rodríguez, an independent District 37 Florida Senate race candidate. Investigators said this made way for García to beat the incumbent by just 32 votes.
Rodríguez, the prosecution’s star witness, said he agreed to run because he had financial problems, and Artiles, a Cuban-American Republican who served in the Marine Corps, presented an opportunity.
“I am ashamed but I needed the money,” Alex Rodríguez said.
Instead of risking a possible 20-year prison sentence, Rodríguez admitted to accepting illegal campaign donations and lying in documents. He also agreed to cooperate, testify against Artiles, and serve one year of house arrest and three years of probation.
Andres Montoya, a branch manager from JP Morgan, where Artiles had several accounts, was also a witness Friday. He testified the balance of Artiles’s savings account on May 21, 2020, was about $47,585.
Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Miguel Manuel de la O has been presiding over the case.
Noon report