TALHASSEE – The group’s chairman wrote in a letter of resignation Wednesday, stolen and spent money without knowledge of the board, one of the nonprofits that received millions from the Hope Florida Foundation last year.
James Holton, chairman of the St. Petersburg-based Save Or Society, said he had resigned from the board after consulting with his lawyers. He said the board was unaware that the executive director had accepted $5 million from the foundation. It is a nonprofit organization founded to support the Hope Florida program defended by Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife.
He said the board has given millions of people to the political committee, which is fighting a campaign to legalize recreational marijuana. Instead, he said he learned about news reporting trading.
“In light of this, I continue to believe that this situation will require “a thorough third party investigation and audit to save our society from drugs.”
Efforts to reach Holton and executive director Amy Ronschausen failed.
Holton’s statement is the latest revelation regarding the controversy that shook Tallahassee.
A Times/Herald investigation has directed Medicaid contractors who overcharged the state for services this year by the Desantis administration to divert $10 million from the state’s funding from the Florida Foundation’s wishes. The foundation was created to support First Lady Casey DeSantis’s Hope Florida Program on a mission to connect people in need of government service with churches and faith-based charities, and later evenly split $10 million across two nonprofits that donated most of the money to the political committee, which was controlled by James Ussier, then the political committee.
Rescuing our society from drugs was one of the recipients of two $5 million grants. Other groups were Florida’s safe future. They are often referred to as “dark money” groups as they are both 501(c)(4) organizations and do not require donor disclosure.
Republican Rep. Alex Andrade, a member of the Florida Foundation’s House of Representatives investigation into spending hopes, told the Times/Herald that saving our society from the drug board is important to know that it is the role of passing the money to the political committee that fought the marijuana amendment.
The Florida Foundation Committee’s hopes in April revealed that their board members had no idea where the $10 million that passed the organization came from or whether it was public money. Andrade had no board vote for The Times/Herald on a proposal for a $5 million grant from Save Our Society, a nonprofit controlled by the Florida Chamber of Commerce.
“The fact that these grants are protected from SOS (saving our society from drugs) further hints at individuals who knew what was going on in the same way they were protected by the Foundation Committee,” Andrade said in a text message. “Who on Earth would hide a $5,000,000 grant from his board from the governor’s office?”
Internal confusion in saving our society from drugs
Andredo says he has revealed “a conspiracy to commit money laundering and wire fraud,” claiming Usmeyer helped lead Medicaid money to his own political committee, keeping Florida clean. It is illegal to divert federal money like Medicaid. It also violates IRS rules to spend on political causes for nonprofits, such as 501(c)(3) nonprofits like the Foundation, as alleges.
Desantis and Uthmeier, now attorney generals of Florida, have dismissed Andrade’s claim as a smear campaign. On Wednesday, the first lady, who spearheaded the Florida Hope program, said she was unwavering with “defamous and false accusations.”
Ronschausen, a key witness in the House investigation, says Andrede mischaracterizes conversations about organizational grants from the Florida Foundation, exaggerating Usmeier’s involvement in the money move. She claims she was forced to share information, including text messages with Uthmeier and Andrade. Andredo says the accusations aren’t true either.
Ronschausen suspended the Association from Drugs from work on April 22 from Save Our Society, according to a whistleblower complaint that sent to Holton on May 7th.
“Always, I acted legally and fully in conjunction with the SOS mission,” writes Ronschausen, who called for a “full recovery.”
The organization is considering a revival of Longschausen, according to Holton, a Tampa lawyer appointed by the governor to several public committees, including the Water Management District in Southwest Florida.
Holton put the issue behind Ronsherzen and said he was grateful that he wanted to revive Ronsherzen to “avoid the need for litigation.” However, he opposed bringing her back.
“We also believe that it is neither wise nor good governance to complete a full forensic audit by third-party auditors and revive Amy before the completion of possible investigations by law enforcement and the Florida House of Representatives,” Holton writes.
He added: “In my opinion, such premature reinstatement may result in the individual suffering of additional scrutiny of SOS, the board of directors and all board members individually under additional scrutiny by various government agencies, exposing personal liability to individual board members.”
