Former state Rep. Anika Omphroy is on probation after pleading no contest to violating campaign finance laws. The Lauderdale Lakes Democrat must complete community service each month as part of her sentence.
Broward County court records show Omphroy in October changed a plea on four charges of false reporting of campaigning expenditures. Her plea shifted them from "not guilty" no "nolo contendere."
She was sentenced to 12 months of probation and must do four hours of community service each month. The sentence runs through Oct. 9 this year, and she must meet all special conditions of probation by Sept. 9, according to court records.
The records cite Florida campaign finance statute, specifically a section restricting if a candidate "falsely reports or deliberately fails to include any information required by this chapter."
Omphroy, after serving two terms in the Florida House, opted to run for Congress in 2022. She ultimately lost to now-U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick.
The 45-year-old ex-lawmaker has notably been in trouble over campaign finance laws before. She was fined $3,000 by the Florida Elections Commission in August 2022 for actions during her 2018 campaign. She was accused at the time of falsely certifying her final campaign finance report, which was overdrawn by $50 and didn't contain small contributions of $100 made by herself that were reflected in bank records.
Months before that, she was fined $2,000 by the Commission for a "reckless" disregard of reporting rules during her 2020 state House campaign. At that point, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office signaled an ongoing investigation of her campaign finances.
The charges Omphroy is on probation for now were filed last May, but lists the date of the offense on July 11, 2020.
That year, she ran for re-election to her state House District 95 seat and faced only Democrat Jasmen Rogers-Shaw in an open Democratic Primary. Omphroy ultimately won that election by a narrow 51% to 49% margin.
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