TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — After nearly 3 weeks of trial and 5 days of jury deliberation Andrew Gillum and Sharon Lettman-Hicks say that justice has been served. Gasps and cries could be heard in the courtroom once the verdict had been announced.
Jurors found Andrew Gillum not guilty on count 1 and did not reach a verdict for counts 2-19. Count 1 refers to Gillum making a false statement to an FBI agent.
Those false statements were about Gillum denying receiving Broadway play tickets, the second false statement about not giving an accurate date as to when communication stopped with an undercover agent.
Gillum spoke with us following news of the verdict and described what this process has been like.
"To be hunted for 7 years. To have people who you've known forever, doubt you. To read things about you that don't resemble— not only don't resemble the truth but don't resemble who you are," said Gillum.
The jury was also unable to reach a verdict on counts 2-19 for Sharon Lettman-Hicks. The counts include conspiracy to commit wire fraud and fraud.
Gillum was accused of accepting thousands of dollars through what the prosecution believed was money secretly funneled through co-defendant Sharon Lettman-Hicks' company P&P Communications. We caught up with Sharon Lettman-Hicks and she told us what she took away from all of this.
"Freedom isn't free. If you don't stand up for yourself nobody else will. That was a lesson learned in this process," said Lettman-Hicks.
As for the other charges where no verdict was reached, the government said they plan to retrial this case in the future. Tallahassee Criminal defense attorney Don Pumphrey says this could mean a different outcome.
"Typically the government's case gets better the second time around because they see where they had mistakes or problems," said Pumphrey.
