Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order immediately suspending North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony DeFillipo, who was arrested last Wednesday in Miami-Dade on three counts of an unqualified elector willfully voting, a third-degree felony.
“It is in the best interests of the residents of the City of North Miami Beach, and the citizens of the State of Florida, that Anthony F. DeFillipo II be immediately suspended from the public office which he now holds,” DeSantis wrote in the executive order.
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According to the Florida constitution, the governor has the authority to suspend local elected officials from office for malfeasance, neglect of duty, drunkenness, incompetence, inability to perform official duties or commission of a felony.
The Florida Senate will later judge whether DeFillipo will be reinstated or removed from office.
“The mayor expects to be fully exonerated from these politically motivated false charges and is anxious to get his day in court. The mayor has always fought corruption in his city and has never been charged with abusing his office. The sole allegation that he voted in the wrong district is misguided, and it is shameful that the State attorney is using her office to intercede in politics,” the mayor’s attorney Mike Pizzi wrote NBC 6.
During the suspension, DeFillipo is banned from performing any official act, duty, or function of public office or getting paid by the city.
“We are aware of how concerning this may be to the many residents, stakeholders, and employees of the City of North Miami Beach. The circumstances surrounding the former Mayor are not a reflection of the city staff or the rest of the City Commission who work tirelessly, day in and day out, to make NMB a wonderful place to live, work, and play,” the city said in a statement Monday. “Our community is resilient, the business of the city will continue, and with your patience, we will get through this chapter of the city together and prevail.”
A complaint filed six months ago with the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics & Public Trust accused DeFillipo of living in Davie. The North Miami Beach city charter requires elected officials to reside in the city.
Prosecutors in Miami-Dade County began to investigate. DeFillipo admitted during a March deposition to purchasing a home in Davie, but he said it was for his family to live in while dealing with marital issues.
Mayor Anthony DeFillipo of Miami-Dade has been arrested for voting illegally. https://t.co/yRrPrfCCXo
— DAGWOOD (@TheDAGWOOD13) June 5, 2023
North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony DeFillipo has been arrested on three felony counts of voter fraud and now is facing up to fifteen years in prison.
Without election integrity, we can trust nothing in our country.
Glad to see Florida taking this issue and hope to see the entire…
— Fabián Basabe (@FabianBasabeFL) June 5, 2023
During a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said that DeFillipo was living primarily at his Davie home when he voted in August, October, and November 2022 for a district he was no longer legally qualified to vote in.
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Location data tracking DeFillipo’s cell phone showed that he was spending most of his nighttime hours in Davie during the months of the three elections, prosecutors said.
DeFillipo faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on all three charges.
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