It’s been almost three years since Florida’s election police force arrested 19 felons for voting in the 2020 election. Two General Elections later, one suspect had his case dismissed, nine were sentenced to probation, community service or a fine, and one suspect has died.
But eight others still have cases under review by the Florida Supreme Court. Most of those have proceedings before the high court on hold until Justices decide on how to handle charges against Terry Hubbard of Broward County and Robert Wood of Miami-Dade County. Those two men were among those arrested after voting in the 2020 Presidential Election.
The Supreme Court in January accepted jurisdiction in appeals of their cases. Hubbard, a convicted sex offender, said he believed that a constitutional amendment that automatically restored voting rights for felons once they complete sentences meant he could register anew. The same goes for Wood, who had served time for a second-degree murder conviction.
But the constitutional amendment, passed in 2018, specifically excluded those convicted of sex crimes and murder.
As with a significant number of the individuals arrested in the 2022 sweep, the voting fraud charges on Hubbard and Wood were originally dismissed at the circuit court level based on concerns about the jurisdiction of statewide law enforcement over voters who are registered at the county level.
But the Legislature then passed a law clarifying that a statewide prosecutor can pursue charges when voters cast ballots in multijurisdictional elections, including presidential races.
Another Miami-Dade man, Ronald Miller, has his own appeal on hold until Justices reach a ruling with Wood. Other suspects — David Dana, Nathaniel Singleton and Eugene Suggs of Broward and Peter Washington of Orange County — similarly need a decision reached on Hubbard’s case for their appeals to continue. Court filings from the state are due in those cases on Aug. 22.
Meanwhile, Hillsborough County man Douglas Oliver has his own case independently going through the appeal process. He has a disposition case scheduled to be heard in Tampa on Wednesday morning.
Several others opted for plea deals with prosecutors around two years ago. In Orange County, Jerry Foster and Michelle Stribling both agreed to six months of supervised probation after pleading guilty to voting fraud charges. Foster saw his probation end early with no objection from the statewide prosecutor’s office.
In Palm Beach County, both Leo Grant and Luis Villaran pleaded guilty as well and were given six months of probation.
Romona Oliver, a Hillsborough County woman, ultimately pleaded guilty to a charge of illegally voting and paid a fine of $548. Also in Hillsborough, Byron Leonard Smith made a “best interest plea” to the charges and in March 2023 was put on six months probation. Hubert Jack and Michael Keith Anderson at the same time agreed to a similar length of probation with a promise it would be reduced if certain conditions were met.
Nathan Hart was sentenced to community service and two years probation after a jury found him guilty on a false swearing account but was acquitted of wrongly voting. He is personally appealing the guilty verdict. He remains the only person in the roundup found guilty of a crime by a jury.
Meanwhile, Tony Patterson, another Hillsborough County man, had the charges dropped, but only after he was arrested for sex crimes and ended up in prison once again.
Robert Simpson, a Palm Beach County man, didn’t live to see all legal matters resolved in his case. He died on July 12, 2024.
But one thing is clear for every individual: None will be able to vote again. All were convicted of sex offenses or murder charges.
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