Carolina Amesty arrested for forgery after surrender to Orange County authorities

The state held back some info on Carolina Amesty until after the election. Image via Orange County Jail.

Rep. Carolina Amesty has surrendered herself to authorities at the Orange County Jail.

Orange County Jail records show the Republican lawmaker was arrested on two counts of forgery, one count of illegally notarizing her own signature on documents, and one of falsely certifying a signature as a notary.

All four charges are third-degree felonies under Florida law, each punishable by up to five years in prison and $5,000 in fines. Booking sheets list the Orange County Sheriff’s Office as the arresting agency.

Amesty’s campaign released a statement on social media.

“This prosecution, initiated just a few weeks prior to absentee ballots being dropped, is based on misleading reports from a partisan newspaper about a notarization of an employee verification background report, the truth of the contents which have not been questioned in any manner,” she said.

“Rep. Amesty calls for a speedy trial, looks forward to her day in court, and is confident of her public vindication.”

State Attorney Andrew Bain’s Office said Amesty was indicted by a grand jury on Aug. 28.

“A concerned citizen brought potential criminal wrongdoing to our attention, and in line with our obligation to investigate fairly and without bias, we requested a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation and thoroughly reviewed the facts and evidence of the case,” Bain said in a media statement.

“That information was presented to the grand jury who found sufficient evidence to return an indictment. I am committed to upholding fairness and justice in every case by applying the law equally to everyone and my record reflects this dedication.”

The news of her arrest comes after months of scrutiny, including a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation involving her work for Central Christian University, a private school founded by her father, Juan Amesty.

She recently resigned her notary public commission after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Office announced an investigation into accusations she notarized a form that a man did not remember signing, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

The State Attorney’s Office said all charges stemmed from Amesty’s notary commission.

The newspaper has investigated a number of issues surrounding Amesty’s work at the school, where she previously worked as a Vice President.

Reporting by the local newspaper included claims Amesty notarized a form listing Robert Shaffer as an employee, though the instructor said he did not work there. Amesty’s campaign said Shaffer taught at a K-12 school under the university’s business umbrella, something other employees confirmed in affidavits. Those employees also said he had memory issues.

The State Attorney’s office in a release said evidence shows Amesty knowingly notarized a document with a forged signature while working as an administrator for Central Christian Academy, a private school operating under the university corporate umbrella.

Amesty first won election to the House in 2022 in House District 45, defeating Democrat Allie Braswell with 53% of the vote. As she runs for re-election this year, she faces former Disney executive Leonard Spencer.

Amesty is a Republican running in a district won by Democrat Joe Biden with 52% in the 2020 Presidential Election but by Republican DeSantis with 54% in the 2022 Governor’s race. That makes the General Election one of the most competitive legislative races in the state of Florida this cycle.

The incumbent has raised more than $96,000 for her re-election campaign in HD 45, while her Friends of Carolina Amesty political committee has another nearly $27,000 available.

Amnesty has not returned requests for comment. On Wednesday evening, she posted a verse from Psalms: “Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.”

She also retweeted a Donald Trump post: “PERSECUTION OF A POLITICAL OPPONENT!”

Political critics have already started to call for Amesty to leave office.

“Another corrupt Florida Republican — who could have seen that coming?” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried.

“The charges Carolina Amesty is facing are serious, and they call every decision she’s ever made on behalf of her constituents into question. If she was willing to forge official documents for personal gain, there’s no telling what else she’s gotten away with during her time in office. Carolina Amesty can’t effectively represent the people of House District 45 while defending herself from felony charges. She should resign from office immediately, and if she refuses to take responsibility for her actions, we demand that the Florida House of Representatives expel her from membership.”

But Rep. Daniel Perez, the GOP speaker-designate for the next legislative term, said the charges appear unrelated to her elected office.

“I cannot speak to the specifics of the charges other than I believe they are wholly unrelated to Rep. Amesty’s duties as a State Representative,” the Miami Republican said. “Rep. Amesty has disputed the allegations, and I would expect her to pursue her defense as aggressively and diligently as she has advocated on behalf of her constituents.”

A campaign source said Amesty has no intention of resigning or dropping out of her re-election campaign.

Regardless, House Democrats expressed confidence the public will deliver its own verdict on Amesty’s fitness to serve in November.

“We can save ourselves a lot of time and drama here— Leonard Spencer will be the next Representative for HD-45,” said House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell.