MIAMI – The defense cross-examined Alex Rodríguez Monday in the “ghost candidate” trial of former Florida Sen. Frank Artiles. He took the stand for roughly eight hours of testimony.
While on the stand Friday, Rodríguez admitted to being a sham candidate in 2020 for the Florida Legislature in exchange for $50,000.
During his testimony, 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.
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.
Artiles’ attorney aggressively questioned Rodríguez Monday, trying to paint him essentially as a criminal who can’t be trusted, asking him whether he thought himself to be an honest or even truthful person about whether meet-ups to pick up money from Artiles really happened the way he said they did.
“Because of your lies, Artiles is sitting in court fighting for liberty,” Artiles’ attorney said.
The defense even probed Rodríguez’s personal life, including the fact that he hasn’t paid taxes in 10 years and his history of lying to his girlfriends.
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.