Jury wraps deliberations for the day as closings paint dueling portraits of Andrew Gillum
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Jurors began deliberating Friday in the public corruption trial of Andrew Gillum and Sharon Lettman-Hicks after federal prosecutors and defense attorneys offered dueling versions of the former mayor and his confidante during closing arguments.
Shortly before stopping for the day, jurors gave a glimpse into their head space when they asked U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor several questions, including whether they could find one of the defendants guilty for wire fraud and not the other.
Winsor answered that they could in fact find one of the defendants guilty and the other not guilty, as explained in the jury instructions. The question left lawyers and the defendants themselves trying to decipher what it might mean about a possible verdict.
Federal prosecutors, who are trying to secure their fourth and fifth convictions in Operation Capital Currency, the FBI’s long-running undercover probe into public corruption in Tallahassee, appeared buoyed by the news. Shortly after their questions were asked and answered, the 12-person jury decided to break for the day and reconvene Monday morning.
The government argued that Gillum and Lettman-Hicks schemed to fleece nonprofits of campaign donations to keep the former mayor financially afloat after he was forced to step down from his longtime job for the People for the American Way Foundation in early 2017 ahead of his bid for Florida governor.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Grogan told jurors that the pair solicited donations from grantmaking organizations and used unwitting friends and associates to help them reroute the funds from campaigns to Gillum’s pockets.
“You have that scheme repeating itself again and again,” Grogan said. “They all have the same pattern: Get money from someone who’s going to expect minimal accountability and then … use someone that you can talk into things … or at least take you at your word.”
David Markus, a Miami attorney representing Gillum, told jurors he is “innocent” and that undercover FBI agents who investigated him tried to get him to take a bribe but failed.
“Over and over and over again, Mr. Gillum demonstrates his good faith,” Markus said. “They tried to get him to cross a line and he wouldn’t … because he’s a good and honest and law-abiding man.”
Day 1: Jury selected, possible witnesses and an appeal to raise $1M
Day 2 opening arguments: Money as a motive or forcing the evidence?
Day 3: How agents confronted mayor at Cascades; Adam Corey's moment
Day 4: Why the feds delayed charging Andrew Gillum and the money trail
Day 5: Prosecutors trace money trail from 'urgent request' for $250K
Day 7: Campaign operatives testify they weren't aware of P&P get-out-the-vote efforts
Day 8: Feds home in on 'Hamilton' ticket disconnect, 'abnormal' money trail
Day 9: Prosecutors and defense rest; former mayor opts not to testify
Decoding the indictment ABCs: Guide to the people, organizations in Andrew Gillum trial
Alex Morris, a Tallahassee attorney representing Lettman-Hicks, asked jurors not to buy the government’s theory that she suddenly turned to a “life of crime” after years working as a political consultant.
“I submit that doesn’t make a heck of a lot of sense for a professional person,” Morris said.
Gillum served 15 years as a Tallahassee city commissioner, the last four as mayor, before scoring an improbable win in the 2018 Democratic primary for governor. Prosecutors allege he and Lettman-Hicks, his mentor and “political godmother,” turned the campaign and a separate mayoral initiative into their own piggy banks, illegally taking donations for their personal use.
The pair were charged in June with one count of conspiracy and 19 counts of wire fraud, though two of those were dropped from a superseding grand jury indictment handed up about a week before the trial began. Gillum alone was also charged with lying to overt FBI agents about “Hamilton” tickets and other gifts he allegedly took from undercover agents in New York.
The same FBI probe yielded earlier bribery convictions and prison time for former City Commissioner and Mayor Scott Maddox, his aide, Paige Carter-Smith, and wealthy local developer John “J.T.” Burnette.
Government says it put the 'puzzle pieces' together for jurors
Winsor’s courtroom on the fifth floor of the U.S. Courthouse on North Adams Street was packed with the defendants’ families and friends, reporters and curious spectators. Gillum never looked in the direction of federal prosecutors as they presented their closing arguments, though he smiled and nodded affirmatively as Markus and Morris took their turns.
Grogan, who flashed photos and evidence on courtroom monitors, told jurors that the government had met its heavy burden of proving the crimes beyond a reasonable doubt. He compared the evidence — which included voluminous text messages and emails, financial documents and wiretapped conversations — to a jigsaw puzzle.
“There’s all the pieces that have to eventually be put together so you can see the whole puzzle,” he said.
Grogan walked jurors through the alleged crimes, saying the defendants “skimmed” money off the top of donations to his gubernatorial bid and the Campaign to Defend Local Solutions, which he started as mayor to fight the gun lobby and state encroachment on home rule.
In all, the two allegedly raided $50,000 from the CDLS, another $60,000 from get-out-the-vote efforts and $132,000 of a $250,000 donation from billionaire donor Donald Sussman. The CDLS funds came from grants from the New World Foundation and the Foundation to Promote Open Society. The Sussman money, meanwhile, moved through the Opportunity to Learn Action Fund.
Gillum and Lettman-Hicks had longtime connections to the nonprofits, which prosecutors said were “unwitting” parties. Gillum served on the New World Foundation board, and both he and Lettman-Hicks were once on the board of the Schott Foundation for Public Education, the parent organization of Opportunity to Learn. The Foundation to Promote Open Society was founded by liberal billionaire George Soros, a major Gillum donor.
Both Markus and Morris asserted that none of the representatives from the nonprofits, who testified on behalf of the government, ever complained about how their money was used or pursued lawsuits because contract terms weren’t followed. They also tried to paint retired FBI special agent Michael Wiederspahn, who testified he believed Gillum was on the take, as biased and unwilling to look at evidence that could exonerate them.
“Who’s complaining?” Markus asked. “Mr. Wiederspahn is the only one complaining.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Milligan II, during rebuttal, told jurors that the beliefs of the nonprofits weren’t “crucial” to the case, which didn’t require a victim to press charges. Earlier, Grogan noted that the nonprofits, which shared Gillum’s progressive views, backed the former mayor at the time of the alleged crimes.
“Just about every eyewitness you heard from ... wanted Andrew Gillum to succeed,” Grogan said. “They wanted the causes he believed in to succeed.”
Lawyers spar over Andrew and Marcus Gillum's 'Hamilton' accounts
Prosecutors focused much of their closing on the FBI investigation into Gillum and his dealings with undercover agents, who came to Tallahassee in 2015 posing as “seedy” developers who paid bribes to win government approvals. And while Gillum never took a bribe, Grogan noted that he kept talking to the agents and asking for donations even after learning they wanted “guarantees” for their purported projects.
'I got you': Texts, emails detail how Adam Corey, FBI arranged trips for Andrew Gillum
In 2016, when Gillum was in New York on PFAW business, he met up with the agents, his brother Marcus Gillum and former lobbyist Adam Corey for outings planned as part of a “guy’s trip.” According to the government, the FBI paid for dinners and drinks, hotel rooms, tickets to “Hamilton” and a boat ride, which Gillum happily accepted.
The trip, which became public in 2017 after grand jury subpoenas hit City Hall, and a related state ethics complaint dogged Gillum on the campaign trail. He repeatedly said in debates and media interviews that he arrived at the theater late and got his ticket from his brother outside the theater.
Grogan urged jurors to listen to recordings from the night of the “Hamilton” show, including an earlier gathering at the Hard Rock Cafe that show one of the agents told Andrew Gillum directly that he’d gotten the tickets and that it was his brother who actually showed up late.
He said Andrew and Marcus Gillum got their stories straight during the Florida Commission on Ethics investigation into the trip, which culminated in 2019 with the former mayor agreeing he took a gift or gifts and paying a $5,000 fine to settle the matter.
“He and his brother had to lie, repeatedly, to the media, to voters ... to the Ethics Commission,” Grogan said.
During an interview with the FBI in 2017, Gillum denied that the agents ever offered or gave him any gifts, comments that form the basis of the false statements count against him.
From the archives: FBI arranged outings for Gillum, others during NYC trip
Markus gave jurors 25 examples of true statements Gillum offered up about his interactions with the undercover agents. He said Gillum was “wrong” about who handed him the ticket, but he noted the FBI never asked about it in the 2017 interview.
“Ladies and gentlemen, he paid the price for that ethics case — more than enough,” Markus said.
Milligan, the last of the lawyers to speak, said no one is alleging that Lettman-Hicks and Gillum, who raised north of $55 million in his run for governor, “robbed the campaign blind.” But he said they broke laws when they siphoned off some of the proceeds.
“Maybe they felt like it was the only way,” Milligan said. “Maybe they felt like no one would notice. It doesn’t matter. What matters is what actually happened.”
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com and follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Andrew Gillum trial verdict watch after closing arguments
