A Democratic lawmaker from Florida, Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, has been indicted for allegedly stealing $5 million in FEMA funds in order to funnel it to her congressional campaign and her co-conspirators. Federal prosecutors in the southern district of Florida say she and her brother, among others, engaged in an illegal scheme while she was running in a special congressional election four years ago. 

Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick was first elected to Congress in 2022 in a special election to succeed a fellow Democrat who had died in office. She won the special Democratic primary by five votes out of nearly 50,000 cast. 

The congresswoman was first placed under investigation by the House Ethics Committee in 2023 for alleged campaign finance violations and using her office to reward donors. The Ethics Committee re-authorized its investigation of Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick over the summer. That probe is ongoing. 

On Wednesday evening, the Department of Justice announced that Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick has been indicted by a grand jury in the southern district of Florida. The full indictment has not yet been made public. 

She is accused of receiving a $5 million payment from FEMA at the tail end of the Covid pandemic, ostensibly for the purpose of distributing vaccines via her family’s health care company. Prosecutors say Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick instead funnelled those funds to various accounts and associates, only to have the money sent to her campaign in the form of straw donations. 

“The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to steal that $5 million and routed it through multiple accounts to disguise its source,” the DOJ said. “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.”

Prosecutors have also charged the congresswoman’s brother, Edwin Cherfilus, for his involvement in the alleged scheme. Another alleged co-conspirator, Nadege Leblanc, is accused of aiding Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick in setting up the straw donor network. The congresswoman’s tax preparer, David Spencer, is accused of conspiring to file a false federal tax return on behalf of Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick.

“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam 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.”

If convicted, Ms. Cherfilus-McCormick faces up to 53 years in prison.