Byron Donalds pays ‘body man’ with a rap sheet using campaign cash

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) has used campaign funds to funnel large payments to his longtime associate and close friend Larry Wilcoxson — a man with a lengthy history of criminal convictions and allegations. Media reports have called Wilcoxson Donalds’ “right-hand man,” while the congressman, who announced his candidacy for governor of Florida in February, has referred to him as his personal “body man.”

Wilcoxson doesn’t appear on Donalds’ official staff roster, yet he and his company, Wilcoxson Consulting, received $133,450 from Donalds’ campaign across more than 160 disbursements between July 7, 2020, and March 24 of this year. The latest Federal Election Commission reporting shows that more than $86,000 of that total came after May 2024, signaling a possible expansion of Wilcoxson’s role with Donalds.

Propping up a 'right-hand man' with Wilcoxson’s rap sheet speaks volumes about the judgment of the man signing the checks.

The payments break down as follows:

• Payroll: $75,250 (56.4%)
• Payroll taxes: $18,750 (14%)
• Consulting services: $22,500 (16.8%)
• Travel reimbursements: $8,450 (6.3%)
• Office supplies: $3,200 (2.4%)
• Event expenses: $2,800 (2.1%)
• Miscellaneous reimbursements: $1,500 (1.1%)
• Other (unspecified): $1,000 (0.7%)

Wilcoxson’s criminal history, both alleged and confirmed, appears extensively in court records and media coverage.

One of the most serious accusations involves a 2006 child molestation case. According to an April 2023 report by the Florida Trident, police accused Wilcoxson of molesting a 13-year-old girl while he worked as a substitute teacher at an Indianapolis middle school. Though prosecutors later dismissed the charge, the Trident noted that “a look at the public record shows there are many questions still unanswered about the case.”

The Indianapolis Star reported that school officials fired Wilcoxson after he allegedly exposed himself to a female custodian. Federal court records show multiple accusers. When asked whether they were all lying, Wilcoxson dodged the question.

He didn’t hesitate to play the race card, though.

“In my America, in your America, only a black man will be guilty and will always be guilty,” he said when pressed about multiple accusations. Wilcoxson refused to answer questions about the child molestation case but admitted to videotaping his sexual encounters, called himself a “pimp,” and confessed to threatening a police officer’s family.

A 2008 federal lawsuit filed in Indianapolis, settled out of court in 2009, alleged that Wilcoxson molested a student — identified as “T.T.” — while working as a substitute teacher at Henry W. Longfellow Middle School. The girl’s mother, Valerie Davis, reported the alleged abuse. According to the lawsuit, the school district and Indianapolis police conducted a “superficial and flawed” investigation.

The complaint also claimed authorities treated the girl “hostilely,” even threatening her with arrest for filing a report.

A lifetime of trouble

Court records unearthed by the Florida Trident show that Wilcoxson’s rap sheet goes back to his teenage years. In Collier County, Florida, he faced charges including armed robbery at 14, aggravated battery, misdemeanor battery, and grand theft auto. While a student at Florida State University studying — ironically — criminology, he racked up more charges between 1997 and 2000. He took plea deals for forgery and credit card fraud, beat a petty theft charge at trial, and got a criminal mischief charge dropped.

In 2015, a court sentenced Wilcoxson to six months in jail for grand theft auto, but the conviction was later vacated. Combined with a judge’s decision to withhold adjudication on earlier charges, Wilcoxson’s record, on paper at least, shows no standing convictions — a technical clean slate that masks a long and troubling history.

In March 2022, Melissa Kamin — Wilcoxson’s former fiancée — filed for a protective order, alleging he physically assaulted her in their Marco Island home by lifting her onto a kitchen counter and restraining her. She also claimed Wilcoxson later tracked her to Lauderhill, broke into her car, and tossed her belongings.

RELATED: DeSantis reacts to Byron Donalds officially entering governor's race

Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Wilcoxson denied the allegations, insisting he never acted violently toward Kamin. Court records show Kamin obtained a temporary restraining order but later withdrew her petition in May 2022.

Wilcoxson’s record of physical intimidation doesn’t stop there. According to a September 2022 report from Gulf Coast News, he and Donalds confronted Collier County School Board candidate Kelly Lichter in a supermarket, with Donalds yelling about a lawsuit involving his wife. In a separate incident, Wilcoxson reportedly lunged at Lichter’s husband, Nick, during a Collier County Republican Executive Committee meeting — forcing a deputy and others to restrain him.

His go-to move

The Trident report casts Wilcoxson as an “intimidator” for Donalds, with critics like former Collier County Republican Committeeman Rob Tolp raising alarms about his temperament and pattern of threatening behavior.

“He resorts to threats of violence almost instantaneously,” Tolp told the outlet. “It’s almost like it’s his first go-to move. That’s a bad sign.”

Using campaign funds to pay unofficial advisers occupies a legal gray zone. It’s not outright illegal if the individual performs legitimate campaign work. But propping up a “right-hand man” with Wilcoxson’s rap sheet speaks volumes about the judgment of the man signing the checks. Whether Florida voters will care — or call it out — remains to be seen.