Florida congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick was indicted this week on charges of stealing $5 million in FEMA money which she is accused of funneling into her own campaign, according to the Department of Justice.
Cherfilus-McCormick, whose districts includes much of West Palm Beach County and portions of Broward County, now faces up to 53 years in prison if convicted. Before Congress, Cherfilus-McCormick worked as the CEO of Trinity Health Care Company, a home health services company founded by her stepfather.
The Democrat who represents a large portion of western Palm Beach County in the U.S. House of Representatives was elected to her third term in Congress in 2024 after originally taking office in the January 2022 special election following the death of Alcee Hastings on April 6, 2021.
The district is the only majority-Black district in Florida and Cherfilus-McCormick is is the first Haitian-American woman elected to Congress from Florida.
In the 2022 regular election, Cherfilus-McCormick again won the Democratic primary and the general election. She was reelected this past year and is slated to face a Democratic primary challenge next year from 26-year-old Elijah Manley, who has called for her resignation.
“Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick should resign from office so that our district can focus on having our needs met without distraction. The governor may not call a special election quickly, but the clock is ticking and every moment she stays in office is a disgrace to our community,” Manley wrote in a social media post.
Cherfilus-McCormick currently serves on the House Committee on Veteran Affairs and the House Committee on Foreign’ Affairs as the Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.
According to the indictment, Cherfilus-McCormick, 46, and her brother Edwin Cherfilus, 51, both of Miramar, worked through their family health-care company on a FEMA-funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract in 2021. In July 2021, the company received an overpayment of $5 million in FEMA funds, the indictment reads.
The indictment alleges that the defendants conspired to steal $5 million and routed it through multiple accounts in an effort to disguise its origin. Prosecutors say a large amount of the money was used as candidate contributions to Cherfilus-McCormick’s 2021 congressional campaign and for other personal uses.
The indictment added that Cherfilus-McCormick and Nadege Leblanc, 46, of Miramar, arranged additional contributions using straw donors, funneling other monies from the FEMA-funded Covid-19 contract to friends and relatives who then donated to the campaign as if using their own money.
Cherfilus-McCormick also faces charges of conspiring to file a false federal tax return with her 2021 tax preparer, David K. Spencer.