Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell is conducting a review of the Hope Florida scandal. A leaked report showed that a state grand jury found $10 million dollars of Medicaid funds were misappropriated to the Hope Florida Foundation by the DeSantis administration and used for political purposes.
The report found that state officials under the direction then-Chief of Staff James Uthemeir improperly diverted the funds. During the 2024 election, the report found that those funds were used to campaign against Amendment 3, which would have legalized marijuana. No criminal charges were found.
Uthemeir now the state’s attorney general, said the use of the money was entirely legal.
DeSantis and Uthmeier did not respond to requests by Central Florida Public Media to comment on the news of Worrell’s review. Worrell said she’s reviewing if any of those funds were spent in the Central Florida region. A criminal investigation has not been opened by her office.
“The state attorney's office is reviewing what, if any, crime regarding Hope Florida may have been committed in this jurisdiction,” Worrell said. “It is important to understand that the state attorney's office generally does not investigate cases. I do have my own law enforcement agency within the state attorney's office, but that is not their function or their purpose. So I am reviewing the information that's out there, and in the event that a crime is discovered, then we will move accordingly.”
Worrell was removed from office by DeSantis in 2023 for “neglecting her duty to faithfully prosecute crime.” Voters re-elected her to the position in 2024.
On Wednesday, Worrell said she hadn’t heard from the DeSantis administration about the review, which was first reported Tuesday by the Orlando Sentinel.
“I seldom ask people who are the subject of review what their thoughts are about the review, "she said
For Worrell, the investigation falls under her jurisdiction because anti-Amendment 3 ads ran in the region during the 2024 elections. Amendment 3 ads ran in the area during the 2024 election.
While her office has not opened an official criminal investigation, it is reviewing the case.
“The way that you achieve justice is not by picking a target and then finding evidence to support the target that you've chosen,” Worrell said. “It's by looking at the evidence, the facts, and the law, and following it where you where it leads you. And that's what we plan to do here in this case. That's what we do in every case.”
