Florida Political Operative Robert Burns Pleads Guilty to Fraud
Robert Burns of Rockledge, Florida pleaded guilty to wire fraud involving COVID relief, adding to a long list of legal troubles. Burns is a political operative for Democratic candidates who has made headlines multiple times during the past two years, thanks to multiple charges and cases at the local, state and federal levels.
“United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that Robert William Burns, III (44, Rockledge) has pleaded guilty to COVID-19-related wire fraud,” an excerpt from the US Dept. of Justice’s US Attorney’s Office reads. “Burns faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been set….According to the plea agreement, in 2021, Burns applied for three Paycheck Protection Plan (PPP) loans to support two of his businesses – RB3 Ventures LLC and The Social Wizards. In all three applications, Burns made false statements to obtain the loans. In one instance, he inflated his company’s income to obtain a larger payout and supported the application with false or fictitious tax documents. In total, Burns fraudulently obtained $57,186 in PPP funds. Burns then spent all the funds on non-business purposes.
This case was investigated by the United States Secret Service and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Richard Varadan.
Burns, who has profited from criticizing law enforcement for several years, has faced multiple legal issues during that same timeframe.
In September of 2023, Burns was charged with witness tampering, battery and trespassing. In that case, prosecutors reported that Burns attempted to “knowingly intimidate, threaten, use physical force against, engage in misleading conduct towards or offer pecuniary gain” to prevent a woman from calling police at Avis Car Rental office in Melbourne. Approximately eight months later, Burns pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in exchange for the lesser charge.
In a separate case involving dozens of election violations, FEC investigators said Burns failed to file months of finance reports for his short-lived political action committee, Friends of Florida, failed to disclose tens of thousands in contributions, regularly spent money the PAC didn’t have and failed to properly disclose political ads paid for with PAC funds. Among five cases open with the Florida Elections Commission, State administrative law Judge Lawrence Stevenson upheld 50 charges against Burns and his PAC.
