Florida Grand Jury Finds DeSantis Administration Misused $10 Million in Medicaid Funds

A Florida grand jury has concluded that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration “misappropriated” $10 million in taxpayer money that was diverted from a Medicaid settlement to a charity connected to first lady Casey DeSantis, according to a sealed report first obtained and published by CBS News Miami. The grand jury declined to file criminal charges, citing insufficient evidence to identify who specifically was responsible.

The money originated from a $67 million settlement between Florida and Centene Corp., a healthcare company that overbilled the state’s Medicaid program for prescription drugs under the Florida Healthy Kids program. The funds were intended to help provide health insurance for poor children, but the grand jury found they were instead routed through the Hope Florida Foundation to political action committees that opposed a 2024 ballot measure to legalize recreational marijuana.

A Sophisticated Scheme

The grand jury described the transfer as part of “a sophisticated scheme to fund political activities,” according to AP News. The money moved from the Hope Florida Foundation to two nonprofits — Secure Florida’s Future and Save Our Society from Drugs — before landing in the bank accounts of Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee chaired by James Uthmeier, who was then DeSantis’ chief of staff.

Keep Florida Clean subsequently sent $7 million to the Republican Party of Florida and $1.23 million to the Florida Freedom Fund, another PAC chaired by Uthmeier. The funds were used to oppose Amendment 3, the 2024 ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana, which fell just short of the 60% supermajority needed to pass.

The grand jury found that the decision to cap the donation at $10 million was made to “circumvent” state law, which requires settlements exceeding $10 million to be sent to the state’s General Revenue Fund. It also rejected claims by former Agency for Healthcare Administration Secretary Jason Weida that the $10 million was a “bonus” beyond what was owed to taxpayers.

“We find that the full Centene settlement was taxpayer reimbursement,” the grand jury wrote. “This money was part of the damages Centene owed to Florida taxpayers.”

No One Takes Responsibility

Despite the damning findings, the grand jury said it could not charge anyone criminally. “Nobody will take responsibility for deciding the $10 million of taxpayer money would go to Hope Florida… or had any memory of who made it,” the report concluded, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times.

“We recognize that this would be an impediment to criminal prosecution,” the report noted. “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 grand jury found that Uthmeier “was in a position of authority over those involved in settling” and that his Keep Florida Clean PAC was the prime recipient of the $10 million. It also concluded that then-Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office knew of the plans to divert the money, and that she authorized her chief deputy, John Guard, to sign the settlement agreement.

Neither DeSantis, Moody, nor Uthmeier was called before the grand jury to testify. The report was completed in January 2026 and filed under seal with the Leon County Clerk’s Office on Jan. 28, before CBS News Miami obtained and published it on Aug. 26.

Officials Took Advantage of Hurricane Chaos

The grand jury found that officials took advantage of the chaos surrounding Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024 to obscure their plans. The settlement was signed on Sept. 27, 2024 — the day after Hurricane Helene struck the Florida Panhandle — while officials were working in the state’s Emergency Operations Center.

Cassandra Pasley, chief of staff for the Florida Department of Health, told the grand jury she was pulled aside and asked to sign the settlement agreement without having seen it before. She testified she was not aware any of the money would end up in a political action committee.

The grand jury also found the repayment schedule suspicious, noting the state required Centene to wire the $10 million to Hope Florida within seven days while allowing more than a year to repay the remaining $57 million. “The Centene settlement itself seems rushed as it materialized rapidly after years of inactivity,” the report noted. “We believe the rush was due to the impending election which was just 45 days away.”

Political Fallout and Defenses

The release of the grand jury report has ignited a political firestorm in Florida, coming amid the 2026 midterm election cycle. Democrats are calling for resignations of Uthmeier and Moody, with all 12 Florida Senate Democrats issuing a joint statement calling the report “truly damning.”

David Jolly, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, called it “a highly orchestrated scheme to launder Medicaid money from childrens’ health services into the First Lady’s charity.” Jolly has pledged to reopen the investigation if elected, and said he believes Casey DeSantis and Hope Florida were “used” in a “sinister plan,” as reported by WLRN.

DeSantis has defended the settlement, telling reporters at a news conference in Lake City that “the only crime that was apparent was with whoever leaked the grand jury report.” He added that “the settlement that AHCA did was legally sound. It was appropriate, and it advanced the interests of the state.”

Uthmeier called the report “a hoax” and “a politically motivated witch hunt driven by the Democrats.” Moody, in a post on X, said her 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.”

Promotions of Key Figures

A notable pattern has emerged from the scandal: many of the key actors involved have received promotions from DeSantis. Uthmeier went from chief of staff to attorney general. Moody went from attorney general to U.S. Senator. Guard became an appeals court judge. Weida became DeSantis’ chief of staff. Andrew Sheeran, the former AHCA general counsel, became a circuit court judge. Jeff Aaron, the foundation’s attorney, was reappointed to Florida’s Public Employees Relations Commission, as documented by WLRN.

Recommendations and What’s Next

The grand jury made two key recommendations to the Florida Legislature: first, that any money received by the state be deposited into the General Revenue Fund with real consequences for violations; and second, that clear laws be enacted setting requirements for how direct-support organizations can use taxpayer funds.

“As taxpayer money,” the grand jury concluded, “it should have been treated as such instead of being allocated for partisan political purposes and without transparency.”

The scandal has already shifted the political landscape. The Cook Political Report has moved the Florida gubernatorial race from “solid” to “likely” Republican following the report’s release, according to FOX 35 Orlando.

With Uthmeier and Moody both up for election in November, and Jolly promising to pursue further investigation, the Hope Florida affair is likely to remain a central issue in Florida politics through the fall. As Truthout reported, the findings come at a time when the Trump administration has been aggressively targeting alleged Medicaid fraud — a juxtaposition that has not been lost on critics of the DeSantis administration.

The question now is whether the grand jury’s recommendations will be enacted into law, and whether voters will hold the officials involved accountable at the ballot box.