FLORIDA — Former Democratic Florida gubernatorial candidate Andrew Demetric Gillum, 42, has been indicted on 21 charges by a federal grand jury, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

Gillum, the former mayor of Tallahassee who lost the 2018 race for governor to Ron DeSantis, is accused of soliciting funds between 2016 and 2019 "from various entities and individuals through false and fraudulent promises and representations that the funds would be used for a legitimate purpose," a DOJ release said.

"The indictment further alleges (Gillum and his alleged co-defendant) used third parties to divert a portion of those funds to a company owned by (Sharon Janet) Lettman-Hicks, who then fraudulently provided the funds, disguised as payroll payments, to Gillum for his personal use," the statement said.

Gillum and Lettman-Hicks, 53, were both charged with 19 counts of wire fraud. Gillum is also charged with making false statements to the FBI.

According to the federal indictment in the case, at the time, Lettman-Hicks was the director and CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition. She is accused of using the organization as a "fiscal sponsor" to accept funds that were then fraudulently dispersed to Gillum through P&PP Communications, a business she controlled.

Lettman-Hicks allegedly used her position at the NBJC to divert $50,000 in donations by purchasing two $25,000 cashier's checks in March of 2017.

"Lettman-Hicks then distributed the fraudulently obtained funds to Gillum, disguised as salary payments from (her company) and in so doing, caused interstate wire communications to occur," the indictment said.

Gillum and Lettman-Hicks were also accused of defrauding an individual who donated $250,000 to Gillum's 2018 gubernatorial campaign. 

"Instead of depositing the funds into the (Gillum for Governor) campaign or Forward Florida PAC accounts, the defendants caused the $250,000 to be wired to an account of (a separate nonprofit) organization, managed by an acquaintance whom Gillum and Lettman-Hicks could control," the indictment said. 

The two are accused of using more than $130,000 of the donation for their own "personal benefit."

The pair is also alleged to have taken $60,000 in leftover funds for a get out the vote campaign for their own personal use, and Gillum is accused of soliciting illegal campaign donations from undercover FBI agents. 

According to Lettman-Hicks' NBJC biography, she served as director and CEO of the organization from 2009 to 2017 and was named to the President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans in 2014 by President Barak Obama.

The group's website currently lists her as CEO and board chair.

In response to the charges, Gillum released the following statement: 

"I have spent the last 20 years of my life in public service and continue to fight for the people. Every campaign I've run has been done with integrity. Make no mistake that this case is not legal, it is political. Throughout my career I have always stood up for the people of Florida and have spoken truth to power. There’s been a target on my back ever since I was the mayor of Tallahassee. They found nothing then, and I have full confidence that my legal team will prove my innocence now."

Gillum was in court for his first appearance Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Tallahassee. 

This is not the first time Gillum has been accused of wrongdoing — in 2019, the Florida Commission on Ethics found probable cause that he violated state ethics laws after he was accused of accepting gifts from lobbyists.

Gillum settled the ethics complaint in 2019 and agreed to pay a $5,000 fine.