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Former Miami state Sen. Frank Artiles is appealing his conviction in an election conspiracy case for which he was sentenced to two months in jail and a lengthy probation.
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Jurors found Artiles guilty of orchestrating a “ghost candidate” scheme, paying machine parts salesman Alex Rodriguez to run as a no-party candidate in 2020.
The goal was to siphon votes from similarly named Democratic Sen. José Javier Rodríguez so Republican Ileana Garcia could supplant him in Miami-Dade.
Garcia won by 32 votes.
Artiles faced up to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors sought three. Judge Miguel de la O gave him 60 days.
– Jesse Scheckner, Florida Politics