Former North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony DeFillipo pleaded guilty on Monday to a charge of voting using an address where he did not reside, as part of a deal with prosecutors. In 2023, DeFillipo had faced three counts of being an unqualified elector who willfully voted, a third-degree felony. Under the terms of the agreement, DeFillipo will not be considered a convicted felon, but he is prohibited from running for office in the future. Additionally, he will be placed on probation for four years and must complete 200 hours of community service.
In response to the plea, the former mayor told the judge his heart was broken because he won’t be able to run for office again.
“Former Mayor Di Filippo accepts responsibility for what plainly was not the best way to handle his residency issue. He acknowledges that, especially because he spent his entire life trying to help the public,” said defense attorney Benedict Kuhne. “He knows that this is the way for the public to help him to move along. He’ll be able to continue in his employment status. He will not be gone from the community. He intends to recommit to the community, while not as a public official, but he expects to be a servant of the people for a long time to come.”
The situation began when a resident, along with a former campaign worker of a commissioner, filed a complaint with the Miami-Dade Commission on Ethics and Public Trust. They claimed that Mayor Anthony DeFillipo was living in Davie with his family, not in North Miami Beach as required by the city charter.
In 2023, DeFillipo admitted to using an outdated address within the city limits to vote, calling it an honest mistake. However, in a later deposition, he acknowledged that his family was living in a $1.2 million home in Davie. He explained the move by citing “marital issues” and concerns over crime.
This revelation led to months of controversy, with DeFillipo and the North Miami Beach Commission at the center of public scrutiny. Tensions escalated when some commissioners began refusing to attend city meetings, arguing that the mayor no longer had the authority to preside over them
“Today’s guilty plea by former North Miami Beach Mayor Anthony DeFillipo ends a long and painful political saga for the residents of the city. Florida’s voting laws exist to ensure that our elections are an honest representation of the will of the voters,” said Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle in a statement on Monday. “Sadly, former Mayor DeFillipo’s actions deliberately undermined that process, and today was the day of reckoning. Voting is too serious a matter to allow any form of manipulation to occur. I and my public corruption prosecutors will not allow that to happen.”
