Florida

Ex-Miami State Rep Daisy Baez Pleads Guilty to Perjury

Former Miami State Rep. Daisy Baez pleaded guilty to a perjury charge Wednesday, a week after resigning her seat for lying about her address on her voter registration.

Baez, a Democrat elected last November in the 114th District, will serve a year of probation and pay a $1,000 fine under the plea agreement with prosecutors.

Baez appeared in court Wednesday, but wouldn't speak with reporters after the hearing.

Prosecutors say Baez was living in a neighboring district during the 2016 campaign, in violation of the Florida Constitution. She later changed her voter registration address to a condominium in the 114th District, but prosecutors said she never lived in or paid rent for the condo, which was owned by a friend.

"She apologizes to the community for having mistaken her obligations in changing her voter registration early, earlier than she should have done," defense attorney Ben Kuehne said. "But we want to make clear that she did not at any time vote under a registration that was not a correct registration."

"Deliberately swearing to false information essential to your role as a state legislator, as alleged in this case, eats at the credibility of our voting and political systems,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said in a statement. “I believe that there can never be a good reason for such action."

Baez is prohibited from running for office during her probation.

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