Sophia Lacayo was arrested on allegations of Campaign Finance. Keep up with the former Miami-Dade County Commission candidate’s legal developments. Sophia Lacayo is a former Sweetwater commissioner and former Miami-Dade County Commission candidate. She experienced legal issues, including a perjury prosecution in 2020, when it was discovered that she did not live inside the municipal borders necessary to run for office.
Sophia Lacayo Has Been Arrested And Charged
Sophia Lacayo, 45, a former Sweetwater commissioner, was detained on Tuesday and charged with campaign financing irregularities. The arrest followed an investigation by the Task Force of the State Attorney’s Office. According to the Miami Herald, a partner of CBS News Miami, the allegations originate from a suspected breach of campaign financing regulations. Lacayo has had legal problems in the past, in addition to the new allegations. She was charged with perjury in 2020 after allegedly failing to fulfill the residence requirement imposed by the City Charter for holding office.
Lacayo quit as Sweetwater commissioner as part of a plea arrangement that saved her prison time after being charged with lying. The new arrest is related to Lacayo’s prior campaign for a seat on the Miami-Dade County Commission. According to the Miami Herald, Lacayo claimed to have spent $1,000,000 of her own money on the campaign at that time. The specifics of the alleged fake campaigning documents that led to her detention have yet to be revealed. On Wednesday afternoon, a news conference is set at the State Attorney’s Office in Miami, during which further information regarding the allegations is expected to be presented.
Is Sophia Lacayo, a Political Party Candidate, in Jail?
Sophia Lacayo, a former candidate for the Miami-Dade County Commission’s 12th district, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon and faces 21 counts stemming from the origin and use of campaign money. She was arrested at Miami International Airport and put into Miami-Dade County’s Turner Guilford Knight Jail. Bail is set at $14,500 for the campaign finance-related allegations. During her campaign against former Doral Mayor Juan Carlos Bermudez, suspicions surfaced concerning the source of Bermdez’s more than $1.9 million.
Lacayo’s campaign finance reports indicated that she earned a significant amount of the money herself. Furthermore, firms where Lacayo was listed as the owner gave the maximum authorized amount of $1,000, and some of these companies had received federal government aid during the epidemic under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Concerns were raised by a Political Action Committee (PAC) concerning donations from corporations that had received government loans.
After the early voting period ended, Lacayo denied any inappropriate use of campaign funds and accused Bermdez of making desperate claims as his polls showed him lagging. In the previous year’s August elections, Bermdez received 66 percent of the vote in the campaign for Miami-Dade Commission District 12, while Lacayo received 34 percent. This is not Sophia Lacayo’s first run-in with the law. She was accused of perjury in 2019 after being elected Sweetwater commissioner and lying about her residence. Lacayo was subsequently sentenced to probation for a year. She promised to leave her post as part of her plea deal in 2020, but the case documents were made public despite her lawyer’s original effort to seal them.
