Statewide prosecutor secures conviction in Tampa illegal voting case

In Ron DeSantis' war on voter fraud, Tallahassee may be Ground Zero.

A statewide prosecutor took over an illegal voting case in Hillsborough County and notched a conviction.

Tampa man Byron Leonard Smith entered a guilty plea for unlawfully casting a vote. Circuit Judge Christine Ann Marlewski, who was first appointed by then-Gov. Rick Scott, sentenced him to six months probation. Smith is also responsible for $560 in court fees.

Smith was among a round of arrests Gov. Ron DeSantis announced in August after an investigation of individuals who voted illegally in the 2020 election.

He was also among those whose arrest was captured on body cam footage released by the Tampa Police Department. The Guardian published video of Smith’s arrest, where the Tampa man said he was confused over what the arrest was about.

An officer put Smith in handcuffs and told him he had a $1,000 fine for “false voting and something else.” Smith in the video denied voting in the most recent election while in a police squad car, the footage showed.

Smith had registered to vote in January 2019 after passage of a constitutional amendment restoring voting rights for most convicted felons who served their sentence and paid all fees and fines to the state. State officials approved Smith’s voter registration immediately and he voted in the 2020 Presidential Election.

Previously, Smith pleaded guilty in 1994 to possession of child pornography. The constitutional amendment did not restore the rights of those convicted of sexual offenses.

The case is notable as it’s the first of the recent charges to be handled by a statewide prosecutor. The Legislature in a Special Session this year passed a law giving the statewide prosecutor authority to handle election-related cases when votes were cast in elections spanning multiple judicial circuits. Cases previously had been handled by local State Attorney’s Offices.

The statewide prosecutor reports to Attorney General Ashley Moody.

After the round of arrests in August, many defendants have said they believed they had lawfully registered. Judges have dismissed charges in some instances already and some local State Attorneys voiced reluctance to bring charges.