Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for governor, has faced renewed scrutiny over two criminal cases from his youth as his political career reaches its biggest stage. Donalds, who won the GOP nomination on August 18, acknowledged the incidents.
The cases date to 1997 and 2000, when Donalds was a young man attending college in Florida. Neither case resulted in him serving time in prison, and the records were later dismissed or expunged. But the details have resurfaced repeatedly during his political campaigns and again during the 2026 governor’s race.
1997 marijuana arrest
Donalds was arrested in 1997, at age 18 or 19, on a misdemeanor possession charge, according to Leon County court records reviewed by PolitiFact.
The case was sent to a pretrial diversion program. After Donalds completed the program, prosecutors dismissed the charge, and he paid a $150 fine, according to .
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That distinction is important. Although political advertisements have described the incident as a drug conviction, PolitiFact found that the marijuana case did not result in a conviction because the charge was ultimately dismissed.
Donalds has since acknowledged that his involvement with marijuana went beyond possession. In a 2026 interview with , he confirmed that he had sold marijuana as a teenager, an admission that brought renewed attention to the 1997 case.
The 2000 felony case
Three years later, Donalds faced a more serious legal case.
In 2000, when he was 21, he was arrested on a second-degree felony charge. The precise description of the offense has varied in political accounts. Donalds has described the incident as theft rather than bribery.
According to , Donalds said in a 2014 interview that an acquaintance persuaded him that he could make money by providing his and PIN. He said his bank account was subsequently used in connection with bad checks and that he ultimately paid restitution.
Donalds pleaded no contest and served one year of probation, according to his campaign and PolitiFact. His said the record was later sealed and expunged.
The legal history is significant because an arrest, a criminal charge, a no-contest plea and a current conviction are not interchangeable terms.
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Was Donalds a convicted felon?
This has become one of the most contentious questions surrounding Donalds’ record.
A political advertisement once claimed that Donalds had “convictions for drugs and felony theft.” But PolitiFact rated that claim mostly false, finding that the marijuana charge was dismissed and that the later felony case was eventually sealed and expunged. The fact-checker also found no evidence that Florida currently considered Donalds a convicted felon.
