Judge gives Andrew Gillum more time to finalize legal representation in corruption case

A federal judge has granted a request to give former Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum more time to put his legal counsel in place in his public corruption case.

Gillum, who lost the Florida governor's race by a razor thin margin, and close adviser Sharon Lettman-Hicks were arrested June 22 by the FBI in connection with a 21-count federal grand jury indictment accusing them of crimes related to his 2018 run gubernatorial campaign. Among other things, the pair are charged with illegally funneling campaign donations to themselves.

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During their first court appearance, both Gillum and Lettman-Hicks pleaded not guilty to the charges. Gillum was represented by Todd Yoder of Miami firm Markus/Moss while Lettman-Hicks was represented by Federal Public Defender Elizabeth Vallejo.

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U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Stampelos initially gave Gillum and Lettman-Hicks until July 1 to finalize their legal representation, saying he wanted to get proceedings "on the road" by then.

On Wednesday, David Markus, partner in Markus/Moss, filed a motion asking to push the deadline back 10 days.

"Andrew Gillum is taking steps to finalize representation and hire undersigned counsel and Markus/Moss PLLC; however, the logistics of doing so are taking slightly longer than the parties envisioned on June 22. Mr. Gillum and counsel are working hard to get this done as soon as possible," Markus wrote.

In the court filing, Markus said his firm learned of the charges the day before Gillum's arrest and that Yoder "immediately flew" to Tallahassee "in order to work with the government and the court to make sure the surrender and first appearance went smoothly."