Former State Representative Sentenced To Federal Prison On Fraud Charges

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza today sentenced former Florida House of Representatives member Dwayne L. Taylor (50, Daytona Beach) to 13 months in federal prison for wire fraud. The Court also ordered him to pay $62,834.55 in restitution and to serve 18 months of supervised release.

On August 31, 2017, a federal jury found Taylor guilty of nine counts of wire fraud. 

According to evidence presented at trial, during Taylor’s 2012 and 2014 re-election campaigns, he falsely reported thousands of dollars of expenditures to the State of Florida in order to conceal his misappropriation of over $60,000 in campaign funds through a series of unreported cash withdrawals, checks written to himself, and checks written to petty cash. Taylor then used the misappropriated funds for personal expenditures unrelated to his re-election campaigns. 

According to Florida law, all campaign contributions and expenditures must be reported to the State of Florida, and neither a candidate nor the spouse of any candidate may use funds deposited in a campaign account to defray normal living expenses for the candidate or the candidate’s family, other than expenses actually incurred for transportation, meals, and lodging during travel in the course of the campaign.

"Corrupt public officials undermine the integrity of our government and violate the public’s trust," said Charles P. Spencer, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Jacksonville Division.  "This case is another example of the FBI's commitment to rooting out public corruption for the people of Florida."

 This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Embry J. Kidd and Roger B. Handberg.