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Former state Rep. Carolina Amestee is accused of stealing funds from the federal government’s COVID-19 pandemic relief efforts, U.S. Justice Department officials announced Friday.
The 30-year-old Windermere Republican is accused of fraudulently applying for pandemic relief funds in the names of two businesses and stealing $122,000, according to a criminal complaint.
She is charged with two counts of theft of government property, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, officials said.
Last month, outgoing Orange-Osceola State Attorney Andrew Bain dropped four forgery-related state prosecutors’ charges against Mr. Amesti as he completed his community service and financial crimes course.
Amestee was found by a state grand jury in August following an investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which concluded that she improperly notarized and likely forged the man’s signature on a license from her family’s small private college in the Orlando area. He was indicted. . The investigation followed an investigative report by the Orlando Sentinel into Amesti’s conduct.
Amestee, who was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2022, narrowly lost re-election in November to Democrat Leonard Spencer, a former Disney executive. She was the only incumbent Republican to lose her race.
There was no immediate response to a request for comment late Friday.
