A former Fort Myers man will serve 16 months in prison after he was found guilty of fraudulent voter registration activities.
Eugene Florence, 33, now of Moore Haven, was employed by an organization called “Hard Knocks,” a company that claims to mobilize voters to get people to register to vote. Florence worked for the organization in 2021, knowingly submitted voter registrations of individuals who did not swear to the oath or contents.
Florence, who has a significant arrest and conviction record in Southwest Florida, was sentenced Thursday by Lee County Judge Edward J Volz Jr. to 16 months in prison which will be served concurrent to a five-year prison sentence he is serving on 2021 charges of burglary, grand theft and felony driving while license suspended or revoked.
An investigation by the State Attorney’s Office, 20th Judicial Circuit, related to the activities of individuals employed by a third-party voter registration organization, has resulted in multiple arrests and a prison sentence this week for one of those involved.
Several “Hard Knocks” employees submitted voter registrations that drew the attention of the Lee and Charlotte County Supervisors of Elections.
The State Attorney’s Office investigation determined fraudulent voter registration applications were submitted.
Three others have also been arrested as a result of this investigation.
Two other defendants have cases pending and a third defendant is currently in a diversion program due to not having any prior criminal history. That defendant was also ordered to pay court costs and testify truthfully in any case that may require such testimony.
In April, the Florida Office of Election Crimes and Security secured payments of civil fines in the amount of $34,400.00 against Hard Knocks Strategies for repeated violations of third-party voter registration laws contained in section 97.0575, Florida Statutes (Fla. Stat.).
The company was also fined an additional $12,200.00 for recent violations of 97.0575, Fla. Stat.
The Office of Election Crimes and Security reviewed 2,868 voter registration applications collected by Hard Knocks Strategies agents, that were submitted to election officials after the statutory deadline. Of these registrations, at least 116 were collected before — but not delivered until after — book closing deadlines, subjecting Florida voters to potential disenfranchisement.
Hard Knocks Strategies also repeatedly turned in registrations to the incorrect county supervisors of elections, and in one instance, submitted 21 Florida voter registrations presumed to be from Texas residents.
The Office of Election Crimes and Security’s announcement of the fines coincided with the arrests in Charlotte and Lee Counties of the Hard Knocks Strategies’ voter registration collection agents who had submitted a large number of fraudulent voter registration applications from 2021-2022.
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