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Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick

U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick surrendered to federal authorities Tuesday and made her first appearance in Miami federal court following her indictment last Wednesday on charges she stole $5 million in COVID federal disaster funds, laundered the proceeds, and used the money to support her 2021 congressional campaign.

The 46-year-old Democratic congresswoman, whose district includes Tamarac and other parts of Broward and Palm Beach Counties, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Enjoliqué Lett as her indictment was formalized. The charges against her include 15 counts including conspiracy to commit money laundering; multiple counts of money laundering; conspiracy to commit theft of government funds; theft of government funds; conspiracy to make a false and fraudulent statement on a tax return; aiding a fraudulent statement on a tax return; conspiracy to make and receive straw donor contributions; and making and receiving straw donor contributions, according to the indictment.

Lett set Cherfilus-McCormick’s bond at $60,000. As part of her release conditions, she must surrender her personal passport – but not her congressional passport – and is barred from traveling to places other than Washington, D.C., Maryland, and part of Virginia.

Cherfilus-McCormick, who is also an attorney, posted a statement on social media following her court appearance.

“Today I made my initial appearance in a case that is both politically timed and politically motivated,” she wrote. “Let me be clear: I am innocent and I look forward to my day in court. This is not just a fight for my name—it’s a fight for my constituents, an attack on the progress we have been making and the movement we have started. This is a sham effort to remove me from my seat. I will not be intimidated or silenced. I am prepared, I am focused, and I am going to fight like hell for my constituents.”

Cherfilus-McCormick is scheduled to be arraigned in the case on Dec. 29.

The indictment against the congresswoman alleges she and her co-defendants conspired to steal that $5 million and routed it through multiple accounts to disguise its source. Prosecutors said a “substantial portion” of the misappropriated money was used to make candidate contributions to Cherfilus-McCormick’s 2021 congressional campaign and for the personal benefit of the defendants.

According to the indictment, Cherfilus-McCormick and her brother Edwin Cherfilus, 51, both of Miramar, worked through their family-run health-care company, Trinity Health Care Services, on a FEMA-funded COVID-19 vaccination staffing contract in 2021. In July 2021, the company received an overpayment of nearly $5.1 million in FEMA funds, a mistake caused by a clerical error, prosecutors said.

The government deposited the money into a company account controlled by the congresswoman and her brother, who allegedly kept the funds, prosecutors said.

A former CEO of the family company, Cherfilus-McCormick, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022 and won reelection in November 2024.

The indictment also accused Cherfilus-McCormick and Nadege Leblanc, 46, the chief of staff for the congresswoman’s district office, of arranging additional campaign contributions using straw donors. They allegedly funneled money from the FEMA-funded Covid-19 vaccination staffing contract to friends and relatives who then donated to the campaign as if using their own money.

Also charged in the case is the congresswoman’s 2021 tax preparer David K. Spencer, 41, of Davie, who is charged with conspiring to file a false federal tax return. According to the indictment, Cherfilus-McCormick and Spencer falsely claimed political spending and other personal expenses as business deductions and inflated charitable contributions in order to reduce her tax obligations.

Edwin Cherfilus, Leblanc, and Spencer made their first appearances in Miami federal court on Friday.

None of the four defendants in the case have entered a plea.

If convicted, Cherfilus-McCormick faces up to 53 years in prison. Edwin Cherfilus faces up to 35 years, Leblanc up to 10 years, and Spencer up to 33 years.

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Author Profile

Kevin Deutsch

Kevin Deutsch is an award-winning journalist and author of two nonfiction books. He covers general assignment news and Jewish community issues for Talk Media. He has also worked as a staff writer at The Miami Times, the Rio Grande SUN, the New York Daily News, Newsday, The Miami Herald, The Palm Beach Post, The Riverdale Press, and Bronx Justice News.