ORLANDO, Fla. — About four months after Orlando political strategist Eric Foglesong pleaded guilty to stealing money from a campaign and was ordered to pay $20,000 in restitution, he waded back into local elections, contributing nearly $900 to a pair of little-known independent candidates who filed to run in two hotly contested legislative races.
Foglesong, who would soon begin falling behind on his home rent payments, also likely wrote the $1,187 check that paid the qualifying fee for one of those candidates, according to three handwriting experts who compared a photocopy of that check to writing on documents Foglesong filed in court.
The candidacies of the two independents — Jestine Iannotti, who ran for Senate District 9, and Juan Rodriguez, who ran for House District 29 — were later promoted by Republican-linked groups with ads apparently meant to siphon support away from Democratic candidates.
