State enters plea agreement with Tiffany Carr in domestic violence coalition mismanagement scandal

The state has entered into a plea agreement with Tiffany Carr related to her role as CEO of the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence (FCADV).

Carr faced allegations from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) that she and former FCADV Chief Financial Officer Patricia Duarte submitted false quarterly reports, billed the state for vacant positions and charged for services that were never provided.

The FDLE says the money was then used for excessive bonuses and leave payouts, including $3.4 million to Carr and $291,000 for Duarte.

The details of the plea agreement with Carr are unclear, but a related document filed on behalf of Duarte seeking a continuance of her trial shows an agreement was reached.

Duarte’s attorneys, Lee Stapleton and Thomas Findley of Carlton Fields, filed a motion Monday to continue Duarte’s trial, citing Carr’s plea agreement. The filing says Duarte “must depose Ms. Carr since the State has just now listed her as a witness.”

The filing further argues the government “also identified two expert witnesses” who must be deposed. The experts were not previously identified through the discovery process, the filing claims.

FDLE’s Office of Executive Investigations opened an investigation into Carr and Duarte in 2021 after inspectors received information from the Florida Office of the Chief Inspector General, the Department of Children and Families (DCF) and the Florida House Public Integrity and Ethics Committee.

“I appreciate the work of our agents and analysts, exploring years of documentation to detail these crimes as well as DCF who assisted on this case.”

FCADV was a nonprofit organization established in statutes and the official organization in charge of distributing state and federal grants to Florida’s 42 domestic violence shelters. Its mission was “to create a violence free world by empowering women and children through the elimination of personal and institutional violence and oppression against all people.”

FCADV was required to submit an annual budget to the Legislature for approval. They oversaw more than $40 million in funding.

In 2020, Florida ended its contract with FCADV. In 2021, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order to dissolve the organization.

Carr turned herself in to Jackson County Sheriff’s Office authorities in North Carolina two years ago, later posting a $500,000 bond to be released.