OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
8:44 AM – Thursday, November 20, 2025
A Florida grand jury indicted United States Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick for allegedly stealing $5 million in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funds for her 2021 congressional campaign.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the indictment against Cherfilus-McCormick on Wednesday.
According to the indictment, in 2021, the 46-year-old Democratic lawmaker and her brother, 51-year-old Edwin Cherfilus, collected a $5 million overpayment from FEMA for their family’s healthcare company, which was connected to COVID-19 vaccine staffing.
Cherfilus-McCormick worked as the CEO of Trinity Health Care Services, the company at the center of the dispute. The indictment alleges that she and Nadege Leblanc had friends and family pull from FEMA funds to “donate” to her campaign.
The House Ethics Committee has been investigating the Florida Democrat since 2023 under suspicion of improper donations to her successful special election campaign in 2022.
The document also contends that she and her preparer, David K. Spencer, conspired to file a false tax return by labeling campaign and personal expenses as business deductions and inflating charitable contributions to lower their tax liabilities.
“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi in a statement. “No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”
Cherfilus-McCormick’s opponent for the Democratic primary, Elijah Manley, posted on X in response, “Today’s indictment of my opponent, Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, is a sad moment for the people of Florida’s 20th Congressional District. I am disappointed that the Congresswoman for abusing the power she was given and instead used it to enrich herself and her family. The people of FL-20 are ready to move past this era of fraud, corruption, and distractions.”
Cherfilus-McCormick has previously denied any wrongdoing.
While her brother faces up to 35 years in prison, the congresswoman faces 53 years if convicted. Ethics and criminal investigations are ongoing.
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