By Gray Rohrer, The News Service of Florida<\/p>\n
A state appellate court on Wednesday ordered a grand jury report alleging $10 million from a Medicaid settlement was \u201cmisappropriated\u201d to be expunged.<\/p>\n
The grand jury report, though, has already been leaked and extensively reported on in the press.<\/p>\n
The 19-page ruling from the 1st District Court of Appeal was critical of the report and of its leak to the press. Under state law, grand jury reports that don\u2019t lead to indictments are supposed to be sealed until those named in the report are given a copy and the opportunity to suppress and expunge the record.<\/p>\n
Despite the finding that the funds from the settlement, which were funneled to a political committee that opposed measures on the 2024 ballot, were misappropriated, the report didn\u2019t indict anyone, citing insufficient evidence.<\/p>\n
But the ruling Wednesday asserted the settlement arrangement, in which Medicaid provider Centene gave $57 million to the state and $10 million to the Hope Florida Foundation, was legal. The settlement resolved alleged overpayments made to Centene. The Hope Florida Foundation gave the $10 million to two nonprofit groups, which in turn donated the money to a political committee headed by James Uthmeier.<\/p>\n
At the time, Uthmeier was Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 chief of staff and has since been appointed attorney general. The political committee opposed measures that would have legalized recreational marijuana and installed a right to an abortion in the state constitution. Both measures failed to get the 60 percent needed to pass that year.<\/p>\n
The grand jury report found the money was misappropriated because state law bars executive agencies from entering into settlements that pay out third parties. But the appellate ruling states that because no \u201ccivil action\u201d had been filed in court, the law doesn\u2019t apply to the settlement. And because the $10 million was paid directly to Hope Florida and not the state, the money wasn\u2019t \u201cdiverted\u201d as the grand jury report indicated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis matter settled before any civil action was filed. Because no \u2018civil action\u2019 had been commenced in court \u2026 no \u2018court settlement\u2019 had been reached,\u201d the ruling states.<\/p>\n
The ruling also criticizes State Attorney Jack Campbell, who oversaw the grand jury proceedings, for distributing the final report to unauthorized people in January.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe State Attorney\u2019s error was not a failure to notify those individuals,\u201d the ruling states. \u201cIt was an over-broad handling of a confidential document that breached the statute\u2019s confidentiality requirement before the impugned individuals could be heard. The violation lies in the disclosure itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ruling was written by Judge Lance Neff, who was appointed to the court by DeSantis in March, two months after the grand jury report was finalized.<\/p>\n
State law also requires executive agencies to notify the Legislature when settlement negotiations begin, but lawmakers weren\u2019t told of the Centene settlement and the Hope Florida provision until it was reported in the press.<\/p>\n
The ruling doesn\u2019t mention Uthmeier\u2019s role in the settlement or in how the money was eventually used. But aides for DeSantis and Uthmeier declared \u201cvictory\u201d over the \u201choax.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCOMPLETE AND TOTAL VICTORY! The Hope Florida Hoax grand jury presentment was completely expunged by Florida\u2019s 1st DCA,\u201d Jeremy Redfern, Uthmeier\u2019s deputy chief of staff, posted on X.<\/p>\n
The state House investigated the settlement in 2025, with a panel chaired by Rep. Alex Andrade uncovering the lax processes at the Hope Florida Foundation, which approved sending the money to the nonprofit groups. It was Andrade\u2019s probe that led to the Leon County grand jury investigation.<\/p>\n