ORLANDO, Fla. – News 6 has learned that voter fraud charges have been dropped for another one of the 20 people across Florida accused by Gov. Ron DeSantis in August of voting illegally in the 2020 election.
Tony Patterson’s charges were dropped Monday out of Hillsborough County, though he is heading to prison for another charge.
[TRENDING: Flagler deputies seek help identifying man who recorded woman in Publix bathroom | Decades in the making: Twin babies already 30 years old at birth. Here’s how | Become a News 6 Insider]
The attorney general’s office sent News 6 this statement on Tuesday saying, “The defendant was recently sentenced for failing to register as a sex offender in two separate cases and is headed to prison. Further, the Office of Statewide Prosecution received additional information which led it to conclude that the charge of providing false information to a supervisor was beyond the statute of limitation.”
They went on to say, “This case was a unique set of circumstances, the remaining cases are still pending and will be handled individually.”
Court documents from Hillsborough County also cite “information received” from the Hillsborough County elections supervisor as a reason for the charges being dropped.
News 6 has learned that most, if not all of those arrested back in August thought their rights had been restored because they were allowed to register to vote – people like Peter Washington who lives here in Central Florida.
“They sent me a voter registration card,” said Washington. “That’s what made me think I was eligible to vote or my rights were restored.”
Washington’s lawyer in Orange County, Roger Weeden, has filed a motion to dismiss Washington’s voting charges saying in part “the allegations do not demonstrate that he participated in a multi-jurisdiction criminal act” and that “the office of stateside prosecution lacks the authority to prosecute.”
“The allegations only occurred in one county. There really is no allegation, no criminal activity occurred in Leon county,” said Weeden.
Weeden said while we don’t have all of the circumstances or knowledge about why Mr. Patterson’s charges were dropped in Tampa, the statewide prosecutor should drop his client’s cases too.
“In terms of how it impacts my case, I don’t see any direct impact, but I certainly do appreciate the trend of these cases being resolved with a dismissal,” Weeden said.
Weeden represents two clients in Central Florida arrested for voting illegally, including Michelle Stribling. He said he’s waiting to file a motion to dismiss her case until after the court resolves her competency hearing case.
Neil Volz is the deputy director for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, an organization that advocates for more rights for returning citizens.
“As it relates to the dismissal, we know that this is just another step toward the direction of us coming together around this idea that really the system isn’t working the way it should,” said Volz.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily:’