An explosive grand jury report found officials in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “misappropriated” $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement “as part of a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities,” according to a copy of the grand jury’s findings first reported by CBS News Miami.
The $10 million was owed to Florida’s taxpayers, the grand jury found, but state officials carved the funds out of a larger $67 million settlement with the healthcare company Centene, to resolve allegations that the company overbilled Florida’s Medicaid program, which provides healthcare to needy Floridians, most of whom are newborns and young children, pregnant and postpartum women, adults with disabilities and the elderly.
The grand jury found that in an elaborate scheme, the $10 million was quietly diverted to the Hope Florida Foundation before being passed through a string of nonprofits and political committees, including the Republican Party of Florida, to ultimately oppose a ballot initiative aimed at legalizing recreational mairjuana in the state.
The Hope Florida Foundation was created to back the state’s Hope Florida initiative, which was championed by first lady Casey DeSantis as a way to provide resources to residents in need and help them get off of government services.
After the foundation received the $10 million, it quickly dispensed it to two nonprofits, which then gave millions to the political committee Keep Florida Clean, which was controlled by James Uthmeier, then Gov. DeSantis’ chief of staff and now Florida’s attorney general, a post the governor appointed him to. Keep Florida Clean in turn donated millions to the Republican Party of Florida. At the time, Uthmeier was leading the charge against the recreational marijuana ballot initiative – a measure which garnered support from a majority of Florida voters but failed to clear the 60% threshold needed to pass.
The grand jury’s inquest was prompted by an investigation by state Rep. Alex Andrade, who led a series of combative hearings in the Legislature aimed at unraveling the spending.
Despite finding the $10 million was misappropriated, the grand jury said there was “insufficient evidence” to charge anyone criminally – because no one would admit to orchestrating the scheme.
“Nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida. This decision was the original appropriation, and no witness would take responsibility for making the decision or had any memory of who made it,” the report reads.
“While we can’t prove who is responsible, we can plainly see that taxpayer money was misused for political purposes and we would like to see changes made to prevent this from happening again,” the report adds.
Asked about the grand jury’s findings at a press conference on Thursday, the governor continued to defend the settlement and the $10 million donation to the foundation behind his wife’s initiative, saying “none of these guys did anything wrong.”
“It was legally sound, it was appropriate and it was consistent with the state’s mission,” DeSantis said. “That was true then and it’s true now.”
The “only crime” apparently committed, DeSantis said, was the leaking of the grand jury’s report to the press.
In the years since officials in his administration directed the secretive disbursement of the $10 million, the governor has continued to elevate and promote many of the key actors involved, helping them climb to some of the most powerful positions of trust in the state. Here’s what the grand jury found about their role in the Hope Florida scandal and where they are now.
James Uthmeier
Then: Chief of Staff to Gov. DeSantis
Now: Florida Attorney General, after DeSantis appointed him to the post in February 2025
What the grand jury found:
“We find that James Uthmeier, as the Governor’s Chief of Staff at the time of the settlement, was in a position of authority over those involved in settling with Centene. Testimony identified him as having involvement in directing the money after it went to Hope Florida,” the report reads.
“Testimony also revealed that Mr. Uthmeier’s Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee, was the prime recipient of the majority of the $10 million taxpayer funds,” the report adds.
Uthmeier, who is currently running for election to keep the post DeSantis appointed him to, was not called as a witness before the grand jury.
Responding to questions from a reporter Thursday, Uthmeier called the grand jury investigation a “politically motivated witch hunt.” Uthmeier then read off sections of Florida law that bar people from communicating about grand jury testimony and asked the reporter if they’re “trying to solicit a crime” by posing a question about the grand jury report – before adding “nobody did anything wrong here.”
Ashley Moody
Then: Florida Attorney General
Now: U.S. Senator, after DeSantis appointed her to the post in January 2025
According to the grand jury report, then-Attorney General Moody “authorized” her then-Chief Deputy Attorney General John Guard to sign the Centene settlement agreement. Guard had previously raised concerns about the agreement to Moody, but those concerns were resolved when the contract was amended to remove the Attorney General’s Office as the primary signatory on the deal, and instead making Florida’s Agency for Healthcare Administration the lead party and the recipient of the funds.
AHCA is part of Florida’s executive branch, under the leadership of the governor.
“After consulting AG Moody, she authorized Mr. Guard to sign the settlement agreement in its final form. Regarding Mr. Guard’s initial concerns about a lack of direction in the agreement as to how the money would be spent, he advised that these were resolved to his satisfaction when the agreement was amended to make it AHCA’s settlement rather than the AG’s settlement,” the report reads.
Moody, who is currently running for election to keep the post DeSantis appointed her to, quickly left an event in Doral last week billed as a press conference without taking any questions from the press, CBS News Miami reported.
In a post on social media Thursday, Moody wrote: “The AG’s office had no knowledge of how funds would be spent or played any role in how Hope Florida, AHCA, or the legislature would spend the settlement money,” adding, “Attempts to characterize this any other way are disingenuous.”
John Guard
Then: Florida’s Chief Deputy Attorney General
Now: Second District Court of Appeal Judge, after DeSantis appointed him to the post in January 2026
What the grand jury found:
“[Guard] did have political concerns about the dedication of $10,000,000 to Hope Florida, which he raised to AG Moody because he knew the deal would be viewed by the legislature as a constraint on their spending authority. His political concerns were resolved by the change to the agreement making the settlement AHCA’s agreement rather than the AG’s settlement agreement, as the problem would now be AHCA’s problem rather than the AG’s problem,” the report reads.
At the time of the grand jury’s inquest, Guard had been under consideration to become a U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Florida, though his nomination was stalled due to concerns about his involvement in Hope Florida. DeSantis later appointed Guard to the state appeals court position.
Jason Weida
Then: Secretary of Florida’s Agency for Healthcare Administration
Now: Chief of Staff to DeSantis
The grand jury found that an early draft of the settlement included a $5 million donation to the Hope Florida Foundation, but that under the direction of then-AHCA Secretary Weida, the agency’s then-general counsel Andrew Sheeran amended the agreement to include the $10 million donation. The grand jury rejected Weida’s claims that the $10 million was a “bonus” above and beyond the damages owed to the state – and found that “Weida’s decision” to cap the donation at $10 million was made to “circumvent” state law, which requires such settlements exceeding $10 million to be sent to the state’s General Revenue fund.
Andrew Sheeran
Then: General Counsel at Florida’s Agency for Healthcare Administration
Now: Second Judicial Circuit Court Judge, after DeSantis appointed him to the post in March 2026
The grand jury found that Sheeran justified the legality of the $10 million donation partially on the basis of Florida’s similar 1997 tobacco settlement – but the report noted that state law was amended following the tobacco settlement to specifically “require taxpayer money received in settlement to be appropriated by the Legislature” and to prevent independent spending by state agencies.
“We further find that the decision to ‘donate’ the $10 million of taxpayer money to Hope Florida was intended to circumvent Florida Statute 216.216’s clear intent and purpose,” the report reads.
“We also find that the donation of these taxpayer funds violates the spirit of Florida Statute Sections 45.062(1) and (5) despite Mr. Sheeran’s interpretations of these statutes,” the report adds.
In response to a request for comment sent to Sheeran, Andrea White, the general counsel for Florida’s Second Judicial Circuit, said: “It would be inappropriate for a member of the judiciary to comment on matters outside of the scope of their official judicial duties.”
Jeff Aaron
Then: Attorney for the Hope Florida Foundation
Now: Reappointed by DeSantis to Florida’s Public Employees Relations Commission
The grand jury heard testimony that Aaron advised then-Chair of the Hope Florida Foundation Josh Hay that the organization would be receiving the $10 million donation, an amount that was unprecedented for the group. The director of one of the nonprofits that received the grants, Save Our Society from Drugs, testified that Uthmeier directed her to contact Aaron for help with how to apply.
Aaron testified that he reviewed the grant applications from the two recipients, SOS and Secure Florida’s Future, and that he had no legal objections to the applications.
The grand jury found it “curious” that Aaron’s testimony conflicted with that of Hay.
“For example, Mr. Hay said Mr. Aaron was the person that told him that Hope Florida would be receiving a $10 million donation; but Mr. Aaron claimed that he was not aware of the $10 million donation until after Rep. Andrade started his investigation. We found Mr. Hay’s testimony to be transparent and credible,” the report reads.
Hay, for his part, admitted that he used poor judgement in approving the grants without further vetting, telling the grand jury, “the road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
Kate Payne is The Florida Trib’s state government reporter. She can be reached at kate.payne@floridatrib.org.
