A Florida Democrat mayor has been suspended after officials revealed he cast multiple ballots during the 2022 election.
Governor DeSantis issued an executive order on Monday officially suspending North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony DeFillipo.
“Anthony F. DeFillipo II is suspended from the public office, which he now holds, to wit: Mayor of the City of North Miami Beach,” DeSantis said in an executive order, according to The Daily Wire.
The executive order also prohibits him from “performing any official act, duty, or function of public office; from receiving any pay or allowance; and from being entitled to any of the emoluments or privileges of public office during the period of this suspension, which period shall be from today until a further Executive Order is issued or as otherwise provided by law.”
DeFillipo was charged last week with three counts of Election-Unqualified Voter, each a third-degree felony. Each count carries up to 5 years in prison if convicted.
NMB MAYOR SUSPENDED: Gov. Ron DeSantis has suspended North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony DeFillipo following his arrest on illegal voting charges last week. https://t.co/6zxgNeDOOc
— WPLG Local 10 News (@WPLGLocal10) June 5, 2023
BREAKING: FL Democrat mayor Anthony DeFillipo has been arrested on voter fraud charges and now faces up to 15 years in prison.
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) June 5, 2023
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle (D) said during a press conference last week that “we believe the evidence shows [DeFillipo] voted … three times.”
We in law enforcement take actions which violate our election laws very seriously. They are crimes. Today, we are charging Anthony DeFillipo, the present Mayor @NorthMiamiBeach, with 3 counts of Unqualified Voters Willfully Voting, 3rd degree felonies. pic.twitter.com/pUICntyegS
— Kathy Rundle (@KathyFndzRundle) May 31, 2023
Fernandez Rundle told reporters that DeFillipo had moved out of North Miami Beach yet he allegedly returned and voted three times in the district that he no longer lived in. She said that cellphone data was used to track where he was on the days that the votes were cast.
CBS News reported that he says that he owns two homes in Davie but that none of those homes are his permanent residence.
“I totally forgot, it was an oversight and I had it fixed immediately when I noticed,” DeFillipo told NBC6. “We're human, we make mistakes.”
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