Updated July 24 Probe into sham Senate candidacy reveals financial links Documents released late Friday provide new details about a former Florida state senator's alleged attempt to sway an election. By Ana Ceballos and Mary Ellen KlasTribune News Service Share TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A young Republican political operative who is also the subject of a public corruption investigation into former Republican state Sen. Frank Artiles made an offer to a recent college graduate last September: He would pay her $1,500 to chair a political committee and in exchange, she would have to do nothing. At the time, 25-year-old Hailey DeFilippis, of Palm Harbor, had just found out she was pregnant and was “freaking out about money.”