Charges Recommended Against Sarasota County candidates

Todays News

Less than a week before the election, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office recommended misdemeanor campaign finance charges against Sarasota County Commission candidates Mark Pienkos, Cory Hutchinson and Alice White.

The Sheriff's Office issued "non-arrest probable cause affidavits." It will be up to the State Attorney's Office whether to pursue charges.

The three candidates, Democrats running respectively in Districts 1, 3 and 5, allegedly accepted donations from the county and state Democratic Party knowing the amounts exceeding the county limit of $200.

Finance records show Pienkos accepted $6,000 from the Florida Democratic Party and $1,500 from the Sarasota County Democratic Party in his fight against incumbent Commissioner Mike Moran. They also show Hutchinson collected $2,000 from the local party to battle incumbent Nancy Detert, and White took $1,000 in her race against Republican Ron Cutsinger.

All three returned the money in excess of the $200 per donor limit after Republican Party of Sarasota Acting Chair Jack Brill sent a letter to the county attorney’s office calling for an investigation. Brill said it's unfair the rival party would orchestrate pouring thousands into the races, effectively creating a dark money system where anyone could give money to the party and then have money far exceeding the legal limit get siphoned into campaign coffers.

The Sheriff’s Office met with White and Hutchinson, who said they understood the legal limits but had been told by Sarasota County Democratic Party Chair JoAnne DeVries that party donations could exceed the county limit. For state positions like senator or representative that’s true, but those positions are not subject to limitations of the Sarasota County Charter.

Pienkos had his attorney contact investigators and say he did not want to discuss the matter. He previously told SRQ he believed the donations were legal but returned the money out of an abundance of caution.

DeVries said she believed charges were a politicization of the legal process, and that it's not unusual for excessive donations to result in refunds. "The impartiality of our justice system represents the foundation of our civil society in America," she said. "When the justice system is used as a political tool it undermines everyone’s faith in the justice system."

"What is unusual in this instance is that one political opponent requested a political prosecution," she added. "All Sarasota residents should condemn such political prosecutions."

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