A woman accused of fraud hired the AG's brother as her lawyer. Months later, DOJ dropped charges
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday moved to dismiss criminal charges against a woman accused of fraud in Florida who was being represented in court by Brad Bondi, the brother of Attorney General Pam Bondi.
The Biden Justice Department filed a criminal complaint against Carolina Amesty, a former Republican lawmaker, in mid-January -- just days before President Donald Trump took office. Amesty faced two counts of theft of government property related to COVID relief fraud and, if convicted, faced a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison.
But on Wednesday morning, Brad Bondi claimed in court papers that "counsel for Ms. Amesty learned [last month] that the government had ceased its criminal investigation ... and withdrew its outstanding subpoenas."
"We understand that the government no longer plans to seek an indictment," wrote Brad Bondi, a lawyer at the firm Paul Hastings.
Justice Department prosecutors followed up hours later, filing court papers asking the judge to dismiss the criminal complaint without prejudice.
This favorable outcome for Amesty, who repeatedly accused the Biden administration of targeting her for political purposes, demonstrates a unique dynamic in the current justice system: in Brad Bondi, a defendant can hire a defense attorney with a familial relationship with the top law enforcement official in the country.
A Justice Department spokesperson said that Pam Bondi's relationship with her brother had no bearing on the outcome of the case, telling ABC News in a statement, "This decision was made through proper channels and the Attorney General had no role in it."
Jim Tobin, a spokesperson for Amesty, said in a statement to ABC News that "neither Carolina Amesty nor her counsel had any communications with the Attorney General regarding the matter."
"Experienced defense attorney Brad Bondi, who has been representing Ms. Amesty since 2024 and is widely regarded as one of the best attorneys in the country, and his excellent team presented overwhelming evidence of Carolina Amesty's innocence to prosecutors," the statement said. "The government's decision today to ask the court to dismiss the criminal complaint was the right and just result on the merits."
The dropping of charges Wednesday was not the first legal victory Brad Bondi has scored during the Trump administration. He previously represented Trevor Milton, the disgraced Nikola founder who was sentenced to four years in prison for lying about the viability of his electric vehicle technology; Milton secured a pardon from President Trump in March.
Amesty, according to the case docket, retained Brad Bondi in December -- about three weeks after Bondi's sister, Pam Bondi, was nominated by then-President-elect Trump to serve as his attorney general.
In the intervening months, there have been multiple delays since the case was charged. The parties repeatedly informed the judge overseeing Amesty's case that they were "engaged in active discussions regarding the appropriate disposition of this matter," and repeatedly sought extensions to file an indictment. The first request noting these "active discussions" came two weeks after Trump took office in January.
The judge granted those extensions. But in June, he only partially granted their request for an additional delay, writing in a terse order that "sufficient time has passed for the parties to work out their differences," and that their rationale "does not support tolling the deadline for more than 210 days."
According to a filing from the government in July, Brad Bondi had provided them with "extensive" records of alleged exculpatory evidence, including over 500 pages of documents and "multiple in-person meetings and phone calls." The government continued to inform the court that their "investigation remains ongoing, due in part to a pending sealed motion related to grand jury proceedings."
Throughout the protracted legal wrangling over the deadline to file a complaint, Amesty's legal team, led by Brad Bondi, repeatedly characterized the case as a "hastily-filed and politically motivated complaint" targeting his client.
"Ms. Amesty is innocent," one filing stated, claiming the loans in question "were obtained appropriately in good faith and with no misrepresentations."
