ORLANDO, Fla. — On June 11 of last year, authorities say Frank Artiles met Alex Rodriguez in the parking lot of a Miami bank, where Artiles gave Rodriguez $2,000 in cash so his friend could open a campaign account and run as a sham candidate in an important state Senate election in South Florida.
Then, they say, Artiles told Rodriguez he had to rush to the airport so he could fly to Tallahassee and hand-deliver Rodriguez’s elections paperwork.
A month later, records show that Artiles billed Data Targeting Inc. — the political consulting firm that was at the same time being paid millions of dollars by state Republican leaders to run Senate campaigns — for the cost of a plane ticket that he’d purchased on June 11.
