Embattled South Florida congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick reiterated her innocence on Monday after a federal magistrate postponed her arraignment until she can settle on a permanent attorney to defend herself in the criminal case accusing her and three co-defendants of stealing $5 million in federal disaster relief funds.
The 46-year-old congresswoman made a brief appearance before magistrate Lisette M. Reid, who agreed to postpone the arraignment until Jan. 20, 2026.
After she left the courtroom at the C. Clyde Atkins Federal Courthouse in Miami, Cherfilus-McCormick said again she was innocent of any corruption charges brought by the federal government.
“I just want to make it clear that I am innocent and in no way I stole any kind of funds,” she told reporters on the courthouse steps.
“I am committed to the people of Florida in my district,” she said. “We are going to continue fighting and making sure everyone gets the representation they need.”
The congresswoman, who has pleaded not guilty and has been free on two bonds with a combined value of $60,000 since late November, was indicted by a federal grand jury and accused of using FEMA money to support her 2021 congressional campaign. Overall, she is charged with 15 federal counts, including theft of government funds, money laundering, straw donor campaign contributions, false tax statements, and conspiracy.
The charges revolve around Cherfilus-McCormick’s family-run company Trinity Health Care Services, which received a Federal Emergency Management Agency-funded contract from the state of Florida to conduct COVID-19 testing and outreach in minority communities during the pandemic. The state overpaid on the contract by $5 million.
Co-defendants include her brother, Edwin Cherfilus, 51, also of Miramar; tax preparer David K. Spencer, 41, of Davie; and Nadege Leblanc, 46, also of Miramar. Edwin Cherfilus has retained representation through the federal public defender’s office.
Cherfilus-McCormick said on Monday she looks forward to her day in court “so we can prove our innocence.”
“There is no place ever in my life where I have ever been accused of anything,” she said. “We look forward to the facts in defending ourselves.”
Speaking on her behalf, Miami criminal defense attorney David Oscar Markus accused unnamed members of the state Democratic party of “targeting the congresswoman.” Without being specific, he said that “we’ve started to uncover evidence that folks within the Florida Democratic party are the ones targeting the congresswoman, and we’re very troubled by that. We’ll be looking at that more and more as the case goes forward, and exposing those folks targeting the good congresswoman.”
Earlier he told the court that he and his firm Markus Law are “working hard” on securing legal representation for Cherfilus-McCormick.
The congresswoman has represented District 20, which covers large sections of Broward and Palm Beach counties, since 2021. She is a candidate for re-election in next year’s general election.
On Nov. 25, the congresswoman surrendered to authorities in Miami and was released on bond but without pretrial supervision. A federal magistrate judge ordered her to surrender her personal passport, and said her travels should be confined to and from South Florida, the District of Columbia, the District of Maryland and the Eastern District of Virginia. This month, U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles, who is assigned the case, gave her permission to visit her mother-in-law in Brevard County after the latter underwent back surgery, according to court files.
Separately, under rules of the House Democratic Caucus, Cherfilius-McCormick was placed on leave as ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa.
Edited portrait
Last week, a “vivid yellow diamond” ring the congresswoman allegedly purchased for $109,000 with some of the government money became the focus of a social media controversy.
In her official portrait on the U.S. House of Representatives website, she is shown wearing a diamond ring.
In a Christmas note to constituents on the social media platform X, the congresswoman posted a portrait of herself along with a holiday message.
But the ring was missing from the portrait and X users, according to various national and regional media reports, asked what happened to it.
In a statement to WPEC-CBS 12, Cherfilus-McCormick’s chief of staff, Naomie Pierre-Louis, said the edit of the photo “was not directed, approved or authorized by the Congresswoman.”
“It was a staff-level decision made by well-intentioned individuals seeking to protect the Member’s reputation. It was unauthorized and should not have occurred,” Pierre-Louis added. “The image is the Congresswoman’s official portrait, and she has no intention of altering or editing it now or in the future.”
