Andrew Bain drops all felony charges against Carolina Amesty

Windemere Republican Rep. Carolina Amesty, 29, is seeking her second two-year term serving House District 45. Image via Florida House.

The Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office won’t pursue felony charges against former Rep. Carolina Amesty. The decision came just over a month after Amesty’s single term in the House ended.

A grand jury indicted Amesty on four felony counts, including forgery, uttering forgery, false acknowledgement or certification by a notary public, and notarizing her own signature on a wrongly notarized document.

All charges stemmed from a form listing Robert Shaffer as an employee of Central Christian University, a private Orlando school founded by Amesty’s father, Juan Amesty. Following reporting by the Orlando Sentinel on the allegations, State Attorney Andrew Bain presented evidence to a grand jury, which issued its findings in August.

The State Attorney’s Office said Amesty met appropriate expectations with prosecutors.

“The defendant’s charges were non-violent, diversion-eligible offenses and the defendant was offered diversion given her lack of criminal history,” said Jason Gunn, a spokesperson for Bain. “The diversion terms required the defendant to complete a financial crimes course, a financial literacy course and 30 hours of community service. Once the diversion terms were completed, the State entered a nolle prosequi in the case.”

The Windermere Republican always maintained her innocence. She called the decision “just and correct” in a statement.

“The politics of personal destruction must end in our country. I thank God for President (Donald) Trump’s victory, which brings hope for a better America where people are not persecuted for their beliefs or political affiliations,” Amesty said. “I am extraordinarily grateful to God, my family, and the many friends who stood by me during this painful ordeal. To my fellow conservative warriors, especially the young ones out there desiring to join the America First movement, understand that the cause is definitely worth the price, even when our opponents bring
every weapon to bear against us.”

Amesty lost re-election to a second House term in November to Democrat Leonard Spencer. With the charges hanging over her throughout the election, she became the only incumbent Republican lawmaker in the Legislature to lose re-election.

Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Bain to oversee prosecutions in Florida’s 9th Judicial Circuit after DeSantis suspended elected State Attorney Monique Worrell, a Democrat. Bain lost an election in November against Worrell after running without party affiliation for a four-year term. Worrell will take office for another term on Jan. 6.

Midday on Sunday, Bain’s Office filed a brief nullifying any prosecution of Amesty on any of the four felony charges. On Monday morning, all bonds in the case were discharged. No reason for the decision was outlined.

Amesty initially pursued a speedy trial ahead of the election, but hearings initially scheduled days ahead of the election were canceled.

The former Representative first won election in House District 45 in 2022. She won a competitive Primary against four other Republicans before defeating Democrat Allie Braswell in the General Election.

Amesty has declined to speculate on whether she will run for political office again.

She has criticized Sentinel reporting on the scandal, which she said was behind a political prosecution.

“It is not easy to be a young, conservative leader who places people first, no matter their political affiliation, race, gender or beliefs. As a first-time legislator, I passed groundbreaking legislation honoring our veterans, combatting human trafficking, protecting our state security, creating jury duty exemptions and much more,” she said.

“A powerful alliance of influential organizers, certain media outlets, agenda-driven institutions, and corporate entities with political agendas have demonstrated their capacity to challenge those who oppose their worldview. During my first term in public office, I found myself navigating the difficult task of standing firm against these combined forces. I will never backdown.

“The Orlando Sentinel was the tip of the spear in the effort to destroy my political career, using misleading attacks and playing fast and loose with the truth. The partisan newspaper weaponized its reporters in a coordinated effort to pressure all types of government agencies into scrutinizing every aspect of my life, family, and friends. I will not give up protecting the rights of families and individuals against powerful political and corporate interests. Government has a special role to play in ensuring that the voices of all citizens are heard without regard to partisan politics or corporate greed.”

Political leaders reacted to the news in distinctly different ways, depending on party.

Mark Cross, Chair of the Osceola GOP, said he was pleased by Bain’s decision but never believed Amesty should face charges.

“I believe he should have done the right thing and dropped charges before they even became charges,” Cross said. “I was kind of surprised the charges were done in the first place. Very rarely have charges having to do with notaries ever been pursued. We have seen illegally notarized candidate oaths but nobody has ever been charged with a crime. They targeted her because she was a legislator.”

Samuel Vilchez Santiago, Chair of the Orange County Democrats, also sees political motivation, but views the dropping of charges as corrupt.

“I think honestly Andrew Bain brought charges to her because it helped him politically running in a Democratic area,” he said. “But with no pressure from an election and the electorate, he cleared charges without any real explanation. It’s the same level of corruption we have seen from Florida Republicans and Bain is no different. I’m just glad voters held her (Amesty) accountable by electing Leonard Spencer.”

Spencer declined to speculate on the legal decision but said voters had clearly tired of Amesty’s scandals regardless.

“My constituents made clear in November that they were ready to move on from the politics of chaos and corruption that defined the last two years of leadership in District 45,” Spencer said. “While there are many questions around today’s decision, the answers that I am most focused on finding are how to lower costs for Floridians. I was not entrusted with this office to focus on the past when there is so much work to do to build a brighter future for all Floridians.”