FROM NY POST: Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-Fla.) was hit with a federal indictment Wednesday, accusing her of stealing $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds to support her 2021 congressional campaign.
Cherfilus-McCormick, who has been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee since December 2023, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami and faces up to 53 years in prison if convicted.
“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain.
“We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”
Cherfilus-McCormick could spend 50 years in prison for the crime if she’s convicted, The Hill reports, noting that as a first-time offender she “would likely receive a lesser sentence.”
Her brother faces up to 35 years in prison.
FROM THE HILL:
The congresswoman and her 2021 tax preparer, David Spencer, also face a charge of conspiring to file a false federal tax return. A staffer for Cherfilus-McCormick, Nadege Leblanc, is accused of arranging additional contributions using straw donors and sending the FEMA funds to friends and relatives, who prosecutors say then donated to the campaign as if it were their own money.
Spencer and Leblanc face up to 33 years and 10 years in prison, respectively.
Last year, Florida’s emergency management division sued the company, Trinity Health Care Services, over the overpayment. The case was dismissed after the parties reached an agreement in mediation.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a conservative nonprofit, referred Cherfilus-McCormick to the Justice Department over the alleged overpayment in July.
South Florida Congresswoman Cherfilus-McCormick indicted by federal grand jury https://t.co/nVgoxviJCp
— Miami Herald (@MiamiHerald) November 20, 2025
BREAKING: DOJ charges Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) with stealing $5 million in FEMA funds, laundering the proceeds, and then using the money to support her 2021 Congressional campaign. She faces up to 53 years in prison if convicted.
According to the… pic.twitter.com/QqMBRroGVI
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) November 19, 2025
READ MORE AT NY POST
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