{"id":61634,"date":"2026-01-24T20:49:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T01:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=61634"},"modified":"2026-01-24T20:49:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T01:49:46","slug":"another-florida-sheriff-endorses-u-s-rep-byron-donalds-for-florida-governor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/01\/24\/another-florida-sheriff-endorses-u-s-rep-byron-donalds-for-florida-governor\/","title":{"rendered":"Another Florida Sheriff endorses U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds for Florida governor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" data-dominant-color=\"644c49\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #644c49;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"512\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-91-768x512-1.webp?resize=768%2C512&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-61635 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-91-768x512-1.webp?w=768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-91-768x512-1.webp?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma endorsed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds for Florida governor, citing the congressman\u2019s commitment to public safety and law enforcement in a statement released by Donalds\u2019 campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Donalds own youthful indiscretions, which include an&nbsp;arrest at 18 for marijuana&nbsp;distribution&nbsp;and a felony theft conviction at age 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-dominant-color=\"443b49\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #443b49;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1110px) 100vw, 1110px\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/download-2-4-1024x682.webp?resize=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-61572 not-transparent\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/download-2-4.webp?resize=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/download-2-4.webp?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/download-2-4.webp?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/download-2-4.webp?w=1040&amp;ssl=1 1040w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhen I made my mistakes, there was no leniency for youthful offenders,\u201d Donalds, said in an interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Donalds\u2019 criminal record suggests he received more leniency than he\u2019s letting on.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After his marijuana arrest in 1997, a Florida court granted Donalds a \u201cpre-trial diversion,\u201d which offered some offenders alternatives to jail. Law enforcement arrested Donalds on a charge of distributing weed, not just possessing it, although Donalds maintains he wasn\u2019t distributing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For his drug charge, the court ultimately fined Donalds $150 and did not incarcerate him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cPre-trial diversion? Let\u2019s be very clear \u2014 the issues in Washington, D.C., is not a 20-year-old with a dime bag of marijuana,\u201d Donalds told NOTUS.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2000, Donalds pleaded\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.wgcu.org\/top-story\/2024-07-09\/trump-vp-hopeful-byron-donalds-ex-wife-shares-her-story-says-what-hes-doing-is-super-dangerous\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">no contest<\/a>\u00a0to a felony larceny charge. He was sentenced to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.floridapoliticalreview.com\/ethics-complaint-against-byron-donalds-dismissed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">two years of probation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-embed wp-block-embed-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"lcXIuxpYLi\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/01\/23\/floridas-best-choice-grady-judd-endorses-byron-donalds-for-governor-but-did-judd-know-about-donalds-arrests\/\">\u2018Florida\u2019s best choice\u2019: Grady Judd endorses Byron Donalds for Governor, but did Judd know about Donalds arrests<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"&#8220;\u2018Florida\u2019s best choice\u2019: Grady Judd endorses Byron Donalds for Governor, but did Judd know about Donalds arrests&#8221; &#8212; \" src=\"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/01\/23\/floridas-best-choice-grady-judd-endorses-byron-donalds-for-governor-but-did-judd-know-about-donalds-arrests\/embed\/#?secret=BmDlQ7XCtB#?secret=lcXIuxpYLi\" data-secret=\"lcXIuxpYLi\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma endorsed U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds for Florida governor, citing the congressman\u2019s commitment to public safety and law enforcement in a statement released by Donalds\u2019 campaign.&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61635,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"15","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDFcL1VudGl0bGVkLWRlc2lnbi05MS03Njh4NTEyLTEud2VicD9maXQ9NzY4JTJDNTEyJnNzbD0xIiwidHh0IjoiQW5vdGhlciBGbG9yaWRhIFNoZXJpZmYgZW5kb3JzZXMgVS5TLiBSZXAuIEJ5cm9uIERvbmFsZHMgZm9yIEZsb3JpZGEgZ292ZXJub3IiLCJ0ZW1wbGF0ZSI6ImhpZ2h3YXkiLCJmb250IjoiIiwiYmxvZ19pZCI6MTYzMDQwNjYxfQ.FUz69IdLVgFv6EHz0uD0KD8Qyic2KojbxN6lVlPNbjEMQ"},"version":2,"attached_media":[{"id":61635,"url":"http:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Untitled-design-91-768x512-1.webp","type":"image\/webp"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[15],"tags":[13341],"class_list":["post-61634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-another-florida-sheriff-endorses-u-s-rep-byron-donalds-for-florida-governor"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61634"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":61636,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61634\/revisions\/61636"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}