GAINESVILLE — The newly elected vice-chairman of the Florida Republican was convicted in 2019 as part of a state felony investigation into whether he had sexual relations with prisoners while he was a prison guard. Details of the trial and results have not been reported previously.
As part of the investigation, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Jovanté Teague, 30, of Cross City, is said to be inside the prison that “probably shows sexual contact” with female inmates.
FDLE also interviewed an inmate who said Teague kissed the inmate while taking a shower at the Dixie County Jail, about 50 miles west of Gainesville in central Florida. She got a recording of her telling her mother over the phone that she met someone in prison, according to court records reviewed by Fresh Take Florida, a news service at the University of Florida Journalism and Communications.
Teague let inmates slide notes under food trays to avoid surveillance cameras, court records said. A cellmate, not identified in court records, said he saw Teague slip his fingers through the selver into the inmate’s vagina. He later said one handwritten note from Teague, recovered by authorities, described the encounter.
The inmate’s mother said someone named “Jovan” had texted her from numbers that turned out to be Teague’s record. The inmates said Teague was working with local bail bond men to arrange for the release of the inmates, records said.
Separately, FDLE said he has revealed another allegation by a state prisoner who had previously accused Teague of soliciting sexual acts while working as a state prison guard. The inspector’s office said the claims were never demonstrated. In response to requests under Florida’s Public Records Act, the Department of Corrections said it could not find a secretariat for Teague’s previous employment.
As part of his sentence in Dixie County Circuit Court, Teague agreed to waive the state’s criminal justice proof. Teague was the deputy mayor of Cross City at the time of his arrest.
In a brief interview, Teague denied being romantically involved with county jail prison prison prison prison prison prisons and said he has made several mistakes in the past. Teague did not return subsequent phone messages for weeks to further discuss the case.
“I’m not the perfect guy,” he said. “But I’m someone who wants to work.”
Teague was arrested on a felony complaint, and his case was included in the Circuit Court’s felony docket. He pleaded guilty in September 2019 to a misdemeanor charge of smuggling handwritten notes arising from him into a county detention facility. The judge sentenced two years of probation, which ended in September 2021, and Teague paid a final $1,400 in February 2023 with court fees and fines.
As vice-chairman, Teague, who said he has an office at the Capitol, will make decisions on party policy, promote GOP candidates, support fundraising, and evangelize conservative ideologies.
The Republican grew up in rural Florida trailers and was elected Teague, often seen wearing a cowboy hat — as the vice-chairman of the GOP just before President Donald Trump took office in Washington earlier this year. He attended the inauguration as representative of Florida. Teague wrote on social media that he visited the White House last month, and was invited separately to the White House Easter Egg Roll and to the Black History Month event at the White House in February.
In his election, Teague said he was surprised he defeated incumbent Jesse Phillips 130-70, particularly with such a wide margin.
An unrelated sexual scandal involving Florida over the woman’s claim that then-chairman of Florida’s state GOP in late 2023 and 2024, Ziegler and his wife, conservative activist Bridget Ziegler, engaged in a three-way sexual encounter, with some of which being documented.
Last year, the party kicked out Christian Ziegler during a police investigation into whether he sexually assaulted the same woman during an encounter he recorded without his wife. Police later settled Christian Ziegler over a rape allegation, and prosecutors decided not to pursue criminal charges that they had illegally recorded the case.
Teague said his history as a corrections officer emerged when he ran for the vice-chairman, and he was open about his past. Phillips said most people who voted for party leadership think they are unaware of Teague’s past.
“There was no public debate about it,” he said. “My feeling is that most people didn’t know about this.”
Phillips, a Republican state commissioner in Seminole County, north Orlando, said he approached at least two people who wanted to learn about Teague’s criminal history after the January vote.
Phillips called Teague’s actions an abuse of power, and said the recent Ziegler scandal “should emphasize the importance of character in leadership positions.”
Phillips gave some reasons why he didn’t promote the information during the campaign against Teague as he announced that the campaign against Teague had announced his candidacy for vice-chair later in the election cycle. Additionally, Phillips said they are still on the same team.
The Florida Republicans repeatedly did not respond to calls, emails or voicemails to discuss Teague’s career.
Rep. Catcammack, a rising star within the Florida GOP, supported Teague and hugged her enthusiastic post-election as vice-chairman. A Cammack spokesman refused to answer questions about whether he was aware of Teague’s criminal conviction.
It is illegal for a corrections officer to have pervasive sex with a prisoner, and someone convicted could be sentenced to up to five years in prison. Under separate laws used by prosecutors to convict Teague, they illegally give prisoners or receive unfair communications – the defendant faces up to one year in prison. It’s the same law that prohibits visitors from smuggling cigarettes, drugs and cell phones into prisons and prisons.
It was not clear why Fdle and state prosecutors accused Teague under less punishment.
The FDLE investigation began after Teague’s employer, Dixie County Sheriff’s Office, reported to state agencies that Teague was involved in an inappropriate relationship with inmates. He said he found Teague’s handwritten notes in prison cells, including plans to continue the relationship after the inmate was released. A fellow prisoner said Teague and the woman spoke outside her cells during a change of work.
The inmate, accused of having a ties with Teague, was in prison at the time for vandalism, theft and robbery charges. She is currently 28 years old. She was released in February after serving eight months at the state women’s prison in Ocala at the Lowell Correctional Institute on drug charges. Teague said he has no plans to contact her or meet up with her.
The inmate told investigators in 2018 that he had no sexual relations with Teague. In a recent interview in the report, she refused to answer questions about their relationship and said she supports Teague’s work.
“Jovante has worked very hard to get to where he is today,” she said in an email. “I’m so proud of him!”
She described Teague as a great man, a great friend and even a good father.
“He’s a very respectable man and has always respected others,” she said.
Teague began with local politics by turning his high school graduation money into a successful city council campaign, he said. He works as a logger in Dixie County. From 2015 to 2022 he served in the city government in Cross City. He has been a member of the city council for three years and as vice mayor for five years. He led the Republican Party in Dixie County before the party election.
He said, watching Teague grow up and struggle to offer him. Now a single father, he said, “I’m trying to do my best I can and try to fight to stay floating.”
The story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. Reporters can access mcupelli@ufl.edu. You can donate here to support our students.
