Stunning money laundering indictment could mean decades behind bars for House lawmaker

Another Democratic member of Congress faces possibly decades behind bars after President Donald Trump's Justice Department secured a federal indictment on charges of fraud and money laundering.

A federal grand jury in Miami indicted Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) and several co-defendants on charges of stealing federal disaster money, laundering the proceeds, and using the money to support her 2021 congressional campaign.

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 of that year, the company received an overpayment of $5 million in FEMA money, authorities said Wednesday.

The duo conspired to steal that million and funnel it through multiple accounts to disguise its source, prosecutors said in a news release. A significant amount of the misused money was used as candidate contributions to Cherfilus-McCormick’s congressional campaign that year, as well as for the personal benefit of the defendants, prosecutors added.

Additionally, authorities said Cherfilus-McCormick and another defendant used straw donors, funneling money from the pandemic contract to friends and family who then donated to her campaign as if using their own cash.

“Using disaster relief funds for self-enrichment is a particularly selfish, cynical crime,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “No one is above the law, least of all powerful people who rob taxpayers for personal gain. We will follow the facts in this case and deliver justice.”

Cherfilus-McCormick faces more than 50 years in prison if convicted.