TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Former city of Tallahassee mayor and 2018 Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum was found not guilty of providing false statements to the FBI, and no verdicts on counts two through 19, which were related to conspiracy and fraud.
The jury did not render a verdict against Gillum's associate Sharon Lettman-Hicks on the same conspiracy and fraud charges against Gillum.
The jury's decision was announced in the the U.S. Northern District of Florida courthouse Thursday afternoon.
“Despite some really difficult questions, they were easy for us, because I knew the truth, but difficult questions, they preserved,” Gillum said of the jury outside the courtroom. “They showed up. They did their jobs up until the point they realized that it was becoming increasingly challenging to try to square this zig-zag lines that had been drawn for them that they needed to make some sense of. I want to thank them for their commitment.”
Andrew Gillum found NOT guilty on count 1, making false statements to a FBI agent, and no verdict was reached on counts 2-19. @abc27
— KandaceBlakeTV (@KandaceBlakeTV) May 4, 2023
According to Gillum's attorney, David Markus, the jury voted 10 to 2 for a not guilty verdict on the false statements charge.
The alleged false statements were related to Gillum's encounter with undercover FBI agents during a trip to New York in 2016.
“Freedom isn’t free and if you don’t stand up for yourself, nobody else will. That was the lesson learned in the process,” Lettman-Hicks said outside the courthouse.
Hicks noted the first week of the trial was focused on the false statements charge.
“One whole week devoted to count 1, with a not guilty verdict. Two through 19 was bundled; hung jury because all they could hear was count 1. As far as I’m concerned, they realized two through 19 were bogus. Hopefully we can get our lives back, when the government decides to stop wasting its money; our money, our tax dollars.... on a false positive.”
The government said it planned a retrial of the case's charges.
The government says they plan to retrial. @abc27
— KandaceBlakeTV (@KandaceBlakeTV) May 4, 2023
The case was related to Gilliam's campaign in 2018 and the alleged movement of funds.
The jury deliberated the case for five days.
Editor's note: The story was corrected to reflect the prosecution plans for a retrial of the case.
