A federal grand jury in Miami has indicted U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick and others, charging that they used federal disaster relief funds for her 2021 Congressional campaign.
Federal prosecutors said Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, and her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, 51, of Miramar, in 2021 had obtained a COVID-19 vaccination contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency for their health care company, Trinity Healthcare Services. But when the company received an overpayment of $5 million, the defendants allegedly laundered the money by routing it through multiple accounts.
“The indictment further alleges that Cherfilus-McCormick and Nadege Leblanc, 46, of Miramar, arranged additional contributions using straw donors, funneling other monies from the FEMA-funded Covid-19 contract to friends and relatives who then donated to the campaign as if using their own money,” the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.
The indictment also charges the Congresswoman and her tax preparer with conspiring to file a false federal tax return.
“Today’s indictment shows no one is above the law,” U.S. Attorney Jason Reding said. “When FEMA funds are diverted for personal or political gain, it erodes trust and harms us all.”
If convicted, the Congresswoman faces up to 53 years in prison.
The indictment was not available on the federal court records page early Thursday.
Cherfilus-McCormick, a Democrat, represents a district in south Florida northwest of Miami. She was elected to Congress in 2021 in a special election to replace U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, who died that year.
The Politico news site reported that she outspent her opponents, using a personal loan of more than $3 million, and won a narrow victory. In 2023, the U.S. House Ethics Committee began an investigation into whether Cherfilus-McCormick violated campaign finance laws.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries announced Thursday that, per House Democratic Causus rules, Cherfilus-McCormick will step down from her role on the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee while the prosecution continues.
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
What Progressive and GEICO Q3 Results Reveal About Auto Insurance Profit, Growth 
NTSB to Decide Probable Cause of Baltimore’s Key Bridge Collapse This Week 
Florida Approves 6.9% Average Cut in Workers’ Comp Rates But Roofers Are Worried 
Cloudflare Resolves Global Outage That Disrupted ChatGPT, X 
