EATONVILLE, Fla. — 9 Investigates obtained a recording of former town council candidate Frances Sealey talking about former Eatonville Mayor Anthony Grant, who is accused of paying people to vote for him.
Sealey ran with Grant last year and gave state investigators an inside look at the 2015 race that led to indictments against Grant and two of his campaign workers.
Sealey told investigators that Grant picked her to run on his ticket, along with Theo Washington. She said Grant is the one who got her started in politics.
"I never would have ran for (anything) in the first place if it hadn't been for Mayor Grant because he came and asked me if I would run with him because he was having a problem with some of the council people and stuff like that, Sealey said in the recording.
Sealey told the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and state attorney's investigators that during last year's election, Grant was often pessimistic about his chances.
"He always said, 'Well, it's not (looking) too good,' or he'd say, 'Well, not (looking) too good. I don't know how. This is a funny election.'"
Grant and campaign workers Mia Nowells and James Randolph are facing fraud charges. They are accused of either manipulating voters into voting for Grant, or telling them to vote for him.
Sealey said she was present when some people filled out their ballots told them to vote for her, Grant and Washington.
Sealey said Grant directed her to pick up absentee ballots from voters and drop them off at their campaign headquarters at his motel. She said one ballot was never turned in, but still counted.
She said she had no idea it was illegal for a candidate to be present while people filled out absentee ballots, or that it was illegal to tell someone who to vote for. She said she new it was illegal to get anywhere near voters in a voting booth or the polls.
She said she wasn’t aware of him ever offering any incentives to voters to vote for him.
Cox Media Group
