Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., faces up to 53 years in prison for allegedly stealing federal disaster funds, laundering the proceeds, and using the a portion of the money to support her 2021 congressional campaign, according to the Department of Justice.
Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, was indicted along with her brother Edwin Cherfilus, 51; congressional staffer Nadege Leblanc, 46; and tax preparer David K. Spencer, 41.
Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother worked through their family health care company on a FEMA-funded Covid vaccination staffing contract in 2021 and, according to a DOJ statement, in July 2021, the company received an overpayment of $5 million in FEMA funds. They allegedly conspired to steal money by routing it through multiple accounts to disguise its source.
“Prosecutors allege that a substantial portion of the misappropriated funds was used as candidate contributions to Cherfilus-McCormick’s 2021 congressional campaign and for the personal benefit of the defendants,” the statement said, adding that Leblanc allegedly “arranged for additional contributions using straw donors, funneling other monies from the FEMA-funded Covid-19 contract to friends and relatives who then donated to the campaign as if using their own money.”
The indictment also charges Spencer with conspiring to file a false federal tax return.
“According to the indictment, they falsely claimed political spending and other personal expenses as business deductions and inflated charitable contributions in order to reduce her tax obligations,” the statement said.
Cherfilus-McCormick won a special election in 2022, completing the term of Democrat Rep. Alcee Hastings, who died in office. The seat is in Florida’s District 20, representing Palm Beach and Broward County. She took the seat Jan. 18, 2022, was sworn in while wearing a Covid mask, and immediately started campaigning for the Nov. 2022 election. She won in November 2022 and 2024 and is running again for 2026.
Voters so far have been undeterred by her alleged crimes; the House Ethics Committee began investigating her in 2023 in connection with campaign finance violations and expanded that investigation in 2024.
While in office, she has largely advocated specifically for Haitian immigrants and is co-chair of the House Haiti Caucus. As of May 2024, Cherfilus-McCormick’s website shows she made some 40 actions for Haiti, including “urging the Biden Administration to redesignate Haiti for Temporary Protected Status (TPS), pause on deportations back to Haiti, extend humanitarian parole to any Haitians currently detained in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention centers, end the detention of Haitian migrants intercepted at sea, and provide additional humanitarian assistance for Haiti.”
According to Florida Politics, Cherfilus-McCormick was CEO of Trinity Health Care Services, a home health care company, and she won the 2021 Primary Election by five votes. “She largely self-funded her way to a win in November’s crowded Primary Election,” Florida Politics reported at the time.
Cherfilus-McCormick has been quiet on social media in recent weeks.
“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”
Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.
