Gabrielle Russon
Carolina Amesty’s criminal forgery records are officially gone from the Orange County Clerk of Courts website after she sought to have them expunged.
The Orlando Sentinel was the first to report her records had disappeared from public view, although her case had received lots of media attention so the coverage lives online.
The embattled former state Representative is still facing federal criminal charges over what authorities say are over fraudulently obtained COVID-19 small business loans.
Amesty had sought to expunge her arrest records from when she had been accused of forging a document related to her family’s private school.
“A grand jury indicted Amesty last year on allegations that she forged the signature of a man who was working for her family’s K-12 academy on the form, and then improperly notarized it,” the Sentinel reported. “The man told the Sentinel and FDLE investigators he did not sign the form.”
However, Gov. Ron DeSantis-appointed State Attorney Andrew Bain dropped the four forgery-related felony charges.
Amesty retained politically-connected lawyer Michael Sasso for the expungement request. Her criminal history record on file with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has already been sealed, according to court records.
The Sentinel reported Sasso’ motion to expunge is still pending.
“However, such requests are routinely granted by judges if the defendants meet the requirements, as Amesty appears to do, said Michael Barfield, public access director for the Florida Center for Government Accountability,” the newspaper said.
For her federal criminal case, Amesty is accused of fraudulently obtaining $122,000 worth of loans intended to help small businesses during the COVID pandemic.
Her lawyer Brad Bondi, the brother of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, argued his client is not guilty in a new court filing.
“The Economic Injury Disaster Loans in question — primarily to Christian organizations — were obtained appropriately in good faith and with no misrepresentations. Indeed, underscoring the utter lack of any criminal intent, Ms. Amesty spent over two hours on the phone with the Small Business Administration to ensure complete compliance with the law. These are not the actions of a criminal but a person who tried to — and did — get it right,” Brad Bondi wrote in a recent filing as he and the federal prosecution seek a delay in the proceedings.
