Seminole GOP chair guilty of illegal campaign contribution in 'ghost' candidate scandal

Benjamin Paris — the first of three people charged in connection with the sprawling "ghost candidate" scheme to help get state Sen. Jason Brodeur elected in 2020 — was found guilty after a two-day trial in Seminole County Thursday.

Paris, who is the Seminole County Republican Party chairman, was sentenced by 18th Circuit Court Judge Wayne Culver to 12 months probation and 200 hours of community service for a first-degree misdemeanor, making one contribution through or in the name of another in an election. Paris must also pay some portion of $42,528.04 for investigation costs, the judge ruled.

After hearing evidence, a jury found Paris guilty after three hours of deliberation, according to a news release from the 18th Circuit State Attorney's Office.

Investigation Widens: Prosecutors' probe into ghost candidates leads to questions for political consulting firms

Probation, Home Detention: Ghost candidate pleads guilty in Frank Artiles' Miami election corruption case

'It Was Me': Frank Artiles bragged about spoiling 2020 Florida Senate race, lobbyist says

Paris, 38, of Longwood, had been accused of making a $200 campaign contribution to Jestine Iannotti, a no-party affiliation candidate who didn't campaign. Rather than putting his own name on the contribution, Paris had his cousin, Steven Smith of Fern Park, say he was the one who made the donation.

Paris wasn't chair of of the Seminole County GOP at the time. However, he was a former Longwood mayor and vice president of operations at the Seminole County Chamber of Commerce, where Brodeur is CEO. Paris resigned from that post after being charged in May.

Brodeur, a Republican, was in a high-stakes race in 2020 against Democrat Patricia Sigman for a seat opened by the term-limited, longtime Sen. David Simmons. That seat, District 9, includes a portion of Volusia County, but redistricting has shifted the boundaries south and Volusia voters will not have a say in Brodeur's re-election campaign this November.

Brodeur won the 2020 race with 50.3% of the vote. He didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment on Friday and has refused to answer questions about the ghost candidate scandal.

District 9 was one of three competitive seats won by Republicans with the aid of no-party affiliation candidates, that year, helping the GOP maintain control of the Senate. In another of the races, District 37, incumbent Democratic Sen. Jóse Javier Rodríguez was upset by 32 votes by Republican Ileana Garcia for a South Florida seat, while Alex Rodriguez, an NPA candidate who didn't campaign, received more than 6,300 votes.

Alex Rodriguez pleaded guilty last year to charges he accepted money in order to put his name on the ballot. Former state Sen. Frank Artiles, who is alleged to have paid Alex Rodriguez some $44,000 — and helping to get the Republican elected — faces five felony counts. Artiles' trial date, which had been scheduled for Sept. 12, continued, with his next hearing set for Nov. 29.

In all three cases, no-party affiliation candidates who filed to get their names on the ballot, did little else to earn voters' trust, raising no money, eschewing campaign appearances and ignoring media inquiries. While they laid low, a dark-money campaign pumped $550,000 into campaign mailers aimed at siphoning votes from the Democrats.

The ads suggested the NPA candidates were independent of political parties but held Democrat-leaning values such as improving healthcare and fighting climate change.

What's next

Jestine Iannotti, the ghost candidate in the District 9 race, and her campaign manager Eric Foglesong, are awaiting trial on felony charges related to illegal campaign contributions. Ghost candidacies are not illegal in Florida.

Iannotti, 36, of Winter Springs, moved to Sweden during the 2020 campaign, but has since returned to Florida. She faces charges including commission of a false, fictitious or fraudulent act, a third-degree felony, as well as misdemeanor charges of perjury and accepting illegal campaign contributions.

Foglesong, 46, faces five charges, including making two or more campaign contributions in the name of another person.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Stacey Staub Salmons and Assistant State Attorney Matthew Futch argued the case for the state. They used three witnesses and exhibits including cell phone records of Smith, Paris, Iannotti and Foglesong to help prove their case.

Prior to the trial, Culver granted a motion by defense attorney Matthew Bark that the state be barred from using the terms "ghost candidate" and "straw candidate" during the trial to prevent inflammatory characterizations and prejudicial evidence. Mention of Brodeur's name was also kept out of the trial.

In the months following the election, State Attorney Phil Archer of the 18th Judicial Circuit, had declined to investigate the matter, but a later Florida Department of Law Enforcement probe led to the charges against Paris, Iannotti and Foglesong.

“Today’s conviction of Mr. Paris demonstrates that political operatives seeking to run campaigns in a manner outside the limits of Florida law will be held accountable, regardless of their role or the severity of their actions.” Archer said in a news release. “I believe the integrity of our election process begins with the integrity of the candidate and their campaign.”

Never miss a story: Subscribe to The Daytona Beach News-Journal using the link at the top of the page.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida State Senator Jason Brodeur associate guilty in scheme