The move came after she completed community service and a financial crimes course
State Attorney Andrew Bain dropped four forgery-related felony charges against former state Rep. Carolina Amesty, upon Amesty’s completion of community service and a financial crimes course.
Amesty was indicted by a grand jury in August following an investigation by Florida Department of Law Enforcement that concluded she had improperly notarized — and likely had forged — a man’s signature on a licensing form for a small Orlando-area private college run by her family. The investigation came in the wake of investigative reporting by the Orlando Sentinel into Amesty’s conduct.
Jason Gunn, a spokesman for Bain’s office, wrote in an email Monday afternoon that Amesty was eligible for what is known in the courts as “diversion” based on her lack of criminal history and the non-violent nature of the charges against her. Diversion is a not uncommon procedure in such instances, often requiring a defendant to undergo education and fulfill a service requirement in exchange for avoiding a criminal record.
“The diversion terms required the defendant to complete a financial crimes course, a financial literacy course and 30 hours of community service,” Gunn wrote.
Once Amesty completed those requirements, a notice of non-prosecution was filed in the case, he added. The document signed by Chief Assistant State Attorney Ryan Williams was entered into Orange County Circuit Court early Sunday morning.
The legal action appears to resolve much of the remaining controversy surrounding Amesty, a Republican from west Orange County who was first elected to the Florida House in 2022 and narrowly lost her reelection bid in November to Democrat Leonard Spencer, a former Disney executive. She was the only sitting GOP legislator to lose their race.
Amesty, 30, said Monday in a statement that the dismissal of the charges was “just and correct.” Her six-paragraph statement did not mention the diversion program instead decrying “the politics of personal destruction.”
“I am extraordinarily grateful to God, my family, and the many friends who stood by me during this painful ordeal,” she said.
Amesty’s attorney John Lauro wrote in an email on Monday morning that “justice was served” for his client.
Spencer, a political newcomer, was sworn in last month to represent the district which includes much of west Orange County, including Windermere, Horizon West and Disney World and part of northern Osceola County. He said Monday in a statement that his victory last month demonstrated that constituents “were ready to move on from the politics of chaos and corruption that defined the last two years of leadership,” in the district.
“While there are many questions around today’s decision, the answers that I am most focused on are how to lower costs for Floridians,” Spencer said.
A story in March published by the Sentinel detailed how Amesty notarized a form in September 2021 claiming Robert Shaffer, a veteran educator with a Ph.D from the University of Florida, was an employee at Central Christian University, a small college run by Amesty’s family. But Shaffer, who previously served as the principal of the adjacent K-12 school also run by Amesty’s family, told the Sentinel he never worked at the university nor signed the form Amesty said he did.
Amesty pleaded not guilty to all of the charges, which were third-degree felonies. Three of the counts name the Shaffer document that was a subject of the Sentinel’s investigation.
Attorney Mark NeJame, who was not involved in Amesty’s case, said the state attorney’s office has wide latitude to offer pre-trial diversions to defendants with no criminal history, but he thinks the former lawmaker is getting “less than a slap on the hand” given the multiple felony charges and the deception to the public caused by the alleged forgery.“She got the break of a lifetime,” he said.
Bain ran for re-election this year with no party affiliation but was appointed to his current role by DeSantis, a Republican. The leniency Bain’s office showed to Amesty, who received the support of Donald Trump Jr. earlier this year, looks “questionable,” said NeJame, a Democratic donor who has supported local and national candidates.
“The optics don’t look good,” he said.
Amesty previously served as a vice president at Central Christian University, a small school located on Hiawassee Road that was founded by her father, Juan Amesty. The Sentinel reported last year that the school also failed to pay on time the property taxes it owed on its five-bedroom pool home near Windermere, and Amesty’s shuttered fast-food restaurant failed to pay its property taxes and utility bills for months.
The Orlando Utilities Commission cut off the restaurant’s electricity and water service after the restaurant did not respond to past-due notices.
