The DeSantis administration carried out a “sophisticated scheme to fund political activities” by siphoning $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement into the Hope Florida Foundation, according to a sealed grand jury report first obtained by CBS News Miami.
Jurors determined that officials “misappropriated” public money that belonged in state accounts, routing it through non-profit entities just weeks ahead of the 2024 general election.
The inquiry started after state Rep. Alex Andrade raised alarms during the 2025 legislative session. Andrade, who heads the House Healthcare Budget Subcommittee, noted references to the Hope Florida Foundation in state contracts and asked why lawmakers had not been notified of the settlement.
The case centered on Centene Corporation, a managed care company accused of overbilling Florida’s Medicaid program. In February 2023, Centene offered to settle the claims for just over $67 million.
By September 2024, state officials altered the deal. Instead of paying the full amount to the state, the final agreement sent $57 million to Florida and directed a separate $10 million “donation” to Hope Florida, a charitable foundation connected to the Department of Children and Families.
State law generally requires all legal settlement money to go directly into the state’s General Revenue Fund or specific agency trust funds, meaning lawmakers must vote to approve spending it. Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Jason Weida and agency attorney Andrew Sheeran testified that the $10 million was an unvetted “bonus” to settle the case rather than standard Medicaid funds, exempting it from normal deposit rules.
However, the state still paid the federal government its matching share based on the full $67 million settlement amount.
Financial records tracked by forensic accountant Julian Dozier showed that the $10 million reached Hope Florida on Oct. 4, 2024. Within days, the foundation handed out two $5 million grants to a pair of non-profit advocacy groups: Secure Florida’s Future, run by Florida Chamber of Commerce President Mark Wilson, and Save Our Society from Drugs, run by Amy Ronshausen.
Both groups had submitted applications pledging not to use the grant money for political campaigns.
Former Hope Florida Chairman Josh Hay approved the second grant without standard state agency vetting, later telling the grand jury that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
Within two weeks, the two non-profits sent a combined $8.5 million to Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee led by James Uthmeier, who then served as the governor’s chief of staff. The PAC used the funds to campaign against Amendment 3, a ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana, and transferred a net total of $5 million to the Republican Party of Florida.
Other state officials who signed the settlement agreement said they were unaware of where the money would go. Former Department of Health Chief of Staff Cassandra Pasley testified she signed the document during emergency hurricane response operations after being told it had already been vetted.
Former Chief Deputy Attorney General John Guard said he had political concerns about bypassing legislative spending authority, but assumed another agency had handled the legal steps.
The grand jury concluded that the $10 million was public money intentionally diverted to avoid state spending limits, finding that non-profit executives mischaracterized their plans to quickly fund political campaigns.
Despite those findings, jurors did not recommend criminal indictments, pointing to witness memory lapses, diffused agency responsibility, and officials acting under legal advice.
The grand jury recommended that state lawmakers pass stricter laws requiring all future settlement funds to go straight to General Revenue with stricter monitoring for state-affiliated non-profits.
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