ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge has denied an effort by a former Central Florida representative to have her charges dismissed.
Prosecutors say former state Rep. Carolina Amesty, who represented Windermere until last November, falsified revenues she reported when she and a relative applied for more than $500,000 in pandemic relief loans.
She is charged with two federal counts of theft of government property for spending $10,000 of the money on personal expenses, according to the Justice Department.
She asked those charges get dismissed during a hearing Monday, saying the government did not follow standard procedure as it rushed to charge her before President Joe Biden left office.
The request was technical in nature and her attorneys left the door open for prosecutors to re-file the charges, but the judge denied that request after questioning the government’s attorneys.
No determination was made on the merits of the case, which has yet to go to trial. Attorneys have indicated they’re negotiating to settle the case before then, which is a typical outcome.
Amesty faces decades in prison if she’s convicted.
She also faced forgery-related state charges, but those were dismissed.
Correction: A prior version of this article said the judge upheld Amesty’s charges. He denied a request to dismiss the case on technical grounds.
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