After being detained and accused of voter fraud, the Democrat mayor of North Beach Miami in Florida now faces 15 years in prison.
Anthony DeFillipo, the mayor of Miami Beach, was detained on Wednesday. Voter fraud on three felony counts has been brought against him. Each one of the third-degree crimes charged carries a maximum five-year jail sentence.
An allegation that DeFillipo resided in the Broward County town of Davie was made in a complaint to the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics & Public Trust six months prior to his arrest. According to the North Miami Beach city charter, elected officials must live there.
DeFillipo acknowledged that he had a home in Davie, Florida, but claimed that he only used it as a family residence at the time due to marital problems. He claimed that he resides on his North Miami Beach property. DeFillipo admittedly owns two properties in Davie, according to records.
In July 2022, DeFillipo and his wife paid $1,226,500 for a six-bedroom house in Davie’s Sierra Ranches neighborhood, according to property records in Broward County. He confessed that he is a member of the Davie community’s homeowners association board.
According to an inquiry into DeFillipo, the Democrat mayor moved to his home in Davie.
DeFillipo was charged with traveling from Davie to North Miami Beach to vote in three successive elections in August, October, and November 2022, according to Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. Rundle claimed that her agency used mobile phone data to establish that DeFillipo left his Davie residence, went to a North Miami Beach precinct to cast his ballot, and then came back to his Davie residence.
“We believe the evidence shows (DeFillipo) voted illegally three times,” Rundle declared.
Rundle said, “Our voting laws apply to everyone. There are no unwritten exceptions.”
DeFilippo has provided a response in which he refutes the claims of voter fraud. Michael Pizzi, who represents DeFillipo, has stated that he believes his client was arrested for political reasons.
“The mayor has explained over and over again, and under oath, he always intended to and always lived in North Miami Beach,” Pizzi said. “We look forward to a speedy exoneration.”
The Miami Herald reported, “A registered Democrat, DeFillipo, 51, served on the city commission for five years before becoming mayor in 2018. A licensed real estate broker, DeFillipo is CEO of TD Managing Enterprise.”
According to reports, DeFillipo is the third mayor of North Miami Beach to be arrested in the past 11 years.
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