No indictment for former Florida GOP lawmaker accused of COVID theft

Carolina Amesty hired Brad Bondi, brother of Attorney General Pam Bondi, to represent her.

The federal government is no longer seeking an indictment against Carolina Amesty, attorneys for the former lawmaker say, citing “significant exculpatory material” her defense has provided in the case.

The criminal investigation into Amesty, who was accused of fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief loans in 2020 while working as an administrator for her family’s university, has ended, her attorney Brad Bondi wrote in a motion filed in federal court Wednesday.

The filing does not provide details on the materials that may have led federal prosecutors to stop their pursuit of an indictment against Amesty. But her attorneys wrote in an earlier filing that they have more than 500 pages of documents they believe are exculpatory, a legal term referring to evidence that would justify or rebut allegedly illegal behavior.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Gregory Kehoe of the Middle District of Florida declined to comment on the matter. Bondi did not immediately respond to an email from the Orlando Sentinel.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2025/08/06/no-indictment-former-florida-gop-lawmaker-accused-covid-theft/