Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended a Democrat state attorney backed by leftist billionaire George Soros on Wednesday for allegedly failing to prosecute violent crime in her jurisdiction.
“It is my duty as Governor to ensure that the laws enacted by our duly elected Legislature are followed,” DeSantis said. “The people of Central Florida deserve to have a State Attorney who will seek justice in accordance with the law instead of allowing violent criminals to roam the streets and find new victims.”
According to the governor’s executive order, State Attorney Monique Worrell of the 9th Judicial Circuit, a Democrat whose jurisdiction includes Orlando, is facing suspension for allegedly enabling “practices or policies that have systematically permitted violent offenders, drug traffickers, serious juvenile offenders, and pedophiles to evade incarceration when otherwise warranted under Florida law.”
DeSantis highlighted Worrell’s soft-on-crime record, specifically noting her habit of “evading minimum mandatory sentences” for gun-related crimes. According to data cited in the order, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office allegedly referred 58 “non-homicide Robbery with a Firearm” cases to the 9th Circuit for prosecution in 2021 and 2022, but only one of those cases had “resulted in the minimum mandatory sentence of ten years” as of May 2023.
Similarly, the executive order noted, the same sheriff’s office referred 11 cases of “non-homicide Carjacking with a Firearm” for prosecution but only one has generated the minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years.
During her 2020 primary election bid to become Orange and Osceola Counties’ top prosecutor, Worrell was boosted by a $1.5 million ad buy from a political committee affiliated with Soros. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Our Vote Our Voice — which purchased the ads — received $1 million from Democracy PAC, a Soros-founded entity.
“Worrell’s practices or policies of avoiding minimum mandatory sentences for gun crimes not only defies the expressed will of the Florida Legislature, it also subjects the residents of Orange and Osceola Counties and surrounding areas to increased risk of harm as violent criminals in the community are too often left on the streets or prematurely returned to the streets to cause further violence and mischief,” DeSantis’ order reads.
Worrell is the second prosecutor removed by DeSantis within the past year for failing to enforce the law. The Republican governor similarly suspended Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren last August for refusing to uphold Florida’s pro-life laws. A federal judge upheld Warren’s suspension in January.
