Florida man sentenced to 5 years in prison for attempting to defraud Matt Gaetz’s family of $25 million

A Florida man who pleaded guilty to attempting to defraud a family member of Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fl., was sentenced by a federal judge on Monday to 63 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Stephen Alford, 62, pleaded guilty to a charge of wire fraud in December after admitting the month before to engaging in a scheme involving a string of correspondence between himself and Gaetz’s father, former state Senate president Don Gaetz.

Alford told Don Gaetz that if he gave him $25 million to help free a U.S. hostage in Iran, arrangements would be made to have President Joe Biden pardon Matt Gaetz in the federal sex trafficking investigation the lawmaker faces. 

Alford claimed to have access to the president.

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Sentencing for the fraudster was delayed five times, WEAR-TV reported. Federal Judge Casey Rogers in Pensacola said Alford would receive credit for time served.

The scheme was discovered in March 2021 when the FBI initially interviewed Don Gaetz about his communications with Alford and another individual identified as “Person A.”

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Don Gaetz told investigators he had received a text from “Person A” four days before the interview requesting a meeting to discuss “the current investigation and the indictment that is about to be filed against [Matt Gaetz],” the Northwest Florida Daily News reported.

These communications occurred amid reports that Matt Gaetz was being investigated for potential sex crimes. Criminal charges have not been filed against the GOP lawmaker, who denies the allegations.

Alford later admitted to FBI agents pressing him about his meeting with Don Gaetz, which was captured on a wire, that he had never received any assurances from the Biden administration about a pardon.