MIAMI-DADE – An attorney for the defense on Tuesday finished cross-examining Alex Rodriguez, the so-called “ghost candidate,” on the sixth day of the election conspiracy trial of former Florida Sen. Frank Artiles.
Artiles, 50, is accused of offering him $50,000 to run for office in the Florida Legislature in 2020 and to cause the Democrat incumbent to lose the election.
As on Monday, defense attorney Frank Quintero portrayed Rodriguez as a scam artist who stole thousands of dollars from Artiles.
Quintero alleged the money paid to Rodriguez was a loan for a business transaction and unrelated to the 2020 campaign where Rodriguez ran for state Senate.
“Other than your statement that Mr. Artiles gave you the money … do you have any other evidence other than your testimony that, that event occurred,” Quintero asked.
He responded: “Like I said, the only reason I did this was because I was promised $50,000. Nobody forced me to do this. I was angry, angry at myself.”
Rodriguez was arrested in March 2021 for campaign violations.
In his plea deal, Rodríguez has agreed to cooperate for the prosecution and testify against Artiles. In return, he will serve one year of house arrest and three years of probation.
The state is arguing that Artiles, a former Republican state senator, made illegal contributions and encouraged Rodriguez to run for the Senate in District 37.
Rodriguez received more than 6,000 votes as an independent candidate.
The incumbent, Democrat Jose Javier Rodriguez, who has the same last name as the so-called “ghost candidate,” lost the election by 32 votes in a recount.
The prosecution presented alleged text messaged between Alex Rodriguez and Artiles.
