State Attorney Andrew Bain's office has dropped all charges against former State Representative Carolina Amesty.
Amesty, who has no criminal record, completed a diversion program, according to an email from the Orange and Osceola County State Attorney's Office. She completed a financial crimes course, a financial literacy course and 30 hours of community service. After those were complete, prosecutors dismissed the case.
The document dismissing the charges was filed on Sunday.
The 30-year-old Windemere Republican lost her District 45 seat to Democrat Leonard Spencer in the General Election. She had been indicted in August on four felony counts involving the misuse of her notary commission.
The grand jury alleged Amesty knowingly notarized a document with a forged signature in 2021 when she was an administrator at Central Christian University, an Orlando-area nonprofit run by her family.
In September, Amesty filed a written plea of not guilty. In a statement posted to Facebook Monday night, Amesty called the dismissal “a just and correct decision.”
“I am very grateful that this legal matter is finally over,” she said, “and I can look to the future to continue to help improve the lives of all Floridians.”
The allegations of wrongdoing were uncovered in an investigation by the Orlando Sentinel.
In her post, Amesty attacked the Sentinel, calling it a "partisan newspaper."
Spencer emailed a statement regarding the case. He said: "My constituents made it clear in November that they were ready to move on from the politics of chaos and corruption that defined the last two years of leadership in District 45. While there are many questions around today’s decision, the answers that I am most focused on are how to lower costs for Floridians.”
