In a surprising turn of events, former Orange County commissioner Mildred Fernandez, on trial for racketeering and bribery, entered into a plea deal with prosecutors Wednesday morning.
Shortly after a jury was sworn in, Fernandez agreed not to contest eight charges, in exchange for several others being dropped by prosecutors.
Fernandez pleaded no contest to receipt of unlawful compensation and seven other counts that involve accepting illegal campaign contributions and certifying a false campaign finance document, orlandosentinel.com reports. In exchange, the state has agreed to drop seven other counts including bribery and racketeering charges.
She was caught on tape accepting campaign contributions of $1,000, in exchange for fast tracking a proposed development project, prosecutors say. At the time Fernandez was campaigning to become the next mayor of Orange County.
Charged with a total of 15 counts, Fernandez has said all along, she was the target of a political witch hunt.
“In my specific case, your honor, I have been used as a scapegoat and the big picture, the way I see this, is that big changes will come and somebody has to sacrifice. And in this case, it’s me,” Fernandez told the judge, wdbo.com reports.
Fernandez is expected to be sentenced in January 2012. Legal experts say, she could face up to 20 months in jail.
LOLZ! Can’t some people get together and make a $1000 dollar offers the politicians in Orlando and send them all to jail? That would be a big change.