Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) has been indicted on charges accusing her of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using some of the money to aid her 2021 campaign, the Justice Department announced late Wednesday.
Cherfilus-McCormick, who has been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee since December 2023, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami and faces up to 53 years in prison if convicted.
The Florida Democrat is accused of stealing Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) overpayments that her family health care company had received through a federally funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract, federal prosecutors said.
A portion of the money was then funneled to support her campaign through candidate contributions, prosecutors allege.
“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
“No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”
According to yesterday’s indictment, the defendants allegedly routed the funds “through multiple accounts to disguise its source” and used “a substantial portion of the misappropriated funds … as candidate contributions” to Cherfilus-McCormick’s 2021 congressional campaign.
Cherfilus-McCormick and another co-defendant, Nadege Leblanc, 46, are also accused of utilizing “straw donors” to contribute the stolen money to the Florida Democrat’s campaign, according to prosecutors.
Cherfilus-McCormick and her tax preparer, David K. Spencer, 41, are also charged with conspiring to file a false federal tax return for allegedly falsely marking political spending and other personal expenses as business deductions and inflating Cherfilus-McCormick’s charitable contributions to ease her tax obligations.
“Today’s indictment shows no one is above the law,” US Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones of the Southern District of Florida said in a statement. “This indictment reflects our Office’s commitment to follow the facts, apply the law, and protect the American taxpayer.
“Public money belongs to the American people,” he added. “When FEMA funds are diverted for personal or political gain, it erodes trust and harms us all.”
Cherfilus-McCormick’s campaign initially raised alarms after Federal Election Commission filings showed she personally loaned her campaign more than $6 million and then paid herself back nearly $2.5 million.
According to the Associated Press (AP), in December 2024, a Florida state agency sued a company owned by Cherfilus-McCormick’s family, saying it overcharged the state by nearly $5.8 million for work done during the pandemic and wouldn’t give the money back.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management said it made a series of overpayments to Trinity Healthcare Services after hiring it in 2021 to register people for COVID-19 vaccinations.
The agency says it discovered the problem after a single $5 million overpayment drew attention.
Cherfilus-McCormick was the CEO of Trinity at the time.
Cherfilus-McCormick was first elected to Congress in 2022 in the 20th District, representing parts of Broward and Palm Beach counties, in a special election after Rep. Alcee Hastings died in 2021.
The congresswoman’s office did not immediately respond to the allegations at the time of publication.