Official records from Amesty's forgery case disappear from public's view

Annie Martin, Orlando Sentinel on Jul 21, 2025

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ORLANDO, Fla. — Official records from former Florida state Rep. Carolina Amesty’s forgery case have disappeared from the public’s view, just over a week after the 30-year-old Republican asked a judge to help give her a fresh start.

A search of Amesty’s name on the Orange County Clerk of Courts website yields no trace of the charges, which were preceded by an investigation by the Orlando Sentinel and a grand jury indictment.

However, deep-sixing the allegations altogether will be difficult for Amesty, as Central Florida news outlets covered the case extensively last year.

Earlier this month, Amesty asked an Orange County circuit court judge to expunge records from the criminal case, which would clear her name and hide the case during background checks, though government and law enforcement officials would still be able to view the records in some circumstances.

But the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which investigated the allegations, agreed last month to seal its records and determined Amesty is eligible to petition the court for expungement. And this week, that prompted their removal from the Clerk of Courts website, said Dain Weister, a spokesman for the clerk.

The ex-lawmaker from Windermere was accused of fraudulently manipulating an employment document in 2021 while working as an administrator for her family’s small private college. A grand jury indicted Amesty last year on allegations that she forged the signature of a man who was working for her family’s K-12 academy on the form, and then improperly notarized it. The man told the Sentinel and FDLE investigators he did not sign the form.

The request to expunge the related court records, filed by high-powered Winter Park attorney Michael Sasso and his associate XiXi Li, noted Amesty was not judged guilty on the charges stemming from the indictment, or for any previous offense. Instead, the charges were dismissed by outgoing Orange-Osceola state attorney Andrew Bain, an appointee of Gov. Ron DeSantis, in a negotiated settlement.

The motion from Sasso and Li is still pending. However, such requests are routinely granted by judges if the defendants meet the requirements, as Amesty appears to do, said Michael Barfield, public access director for the Florida Center for Government Accountability.

While Amesty’s case records are already hidden from the public as a result of the sealing order, upon approval of the expungement request she will be able to swear under oath she has not been charged with a criminal offense, Barfield told the Sentinel last week.

Elected to the House in 2022, Amesty narrowly lost her reelection bid in November to Democrat Leonard Spencer, a former Disney executive.

In addition to last year’s charges, Amesty is the subject of a separate ongoing federal criminal complaint claiming she fraudulently obtained $122,000 in COVID-19 relief funds through a foundation bearing her name and a car dealership that investigators don’t think was ever licensed to operate. She faces two counts of theft of government property, punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, but is fighting those charges with the help of attorney Brad Bondi, brother of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

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