The ghost candidate at the center of former Florida state Sen. Frank Artiles’ election-conspiracy trial said on the witness stand Friday that the more than 6,000 votes that were cast for him and likely tilted a razor-thin election to a Republican candidate were won dishonestly and he did it for the money.

While on the witness stand, during the Miami-Dade County trial against former Florida Sen. Frank Artiles, Alex Rodríguez admitted to being a sham candidate for the Florida Legislature in exchange for $50,

The trial has begun for a former Florida state senator accused of violating state election laws related to his alleged support of a bogus candidate in a Miami-area legislative race back in 2020.

The central Florida district was then carpeted with misleading mailers that appealed to liberal values and voters’ distaste for partisan politics—one included a stock photo that seemed to imply If she siphoned off votes from his Democratic rival,

The so-called “ghost candidate” trial got underway Tuesday. At the center of it is former State Sen. Frank Artiles, R-Miami-Dade, who is accused of masterminding a scheme to sway a 2020 race.

Artiles faces multiple charges related to the alleged scheme in which he paid a friend, Alexis "Alex" Rodriguez, to run as a no-party candidate in the 2020 Senate District 37 race against Democrat candidate Jose Javier Rodríguez.

Former Miami-Dade State Senator Frank Artiles faces up to 20 years in prison for violation state elections laws.