A Sumter County commissioner has entered a plea in a case in which he is charged with perjury.
Commissioner Oren Miller, a resident of the Village of Sanibel, entered a written plea of not guilty on Wednesday in Marion County Court through his attorney, Dock Blanchard.
Miller was arrested this past week along with fellow Commissioner Gary Search, also a resident of The Villages.
In March, the Office of State Attorney for the 5th Judicial Circuit received two citizen complaints alleging Florida Sunshine Law violations during a Sumter County Commission meeting in February. The complaints identified the violators as Miller, his wife Angie Fox, and Search. The initial allegations were that Miller was using his wife as a conduit to communicate ongoing commission agenda-related items to other commissioners, specifically Search, “in hopes to sway the outcome of the issues at hand,” according to an arrest report on file in court.
Subpoenas were issued to Verizon for the commissioners’ phone records.
It is alleged that between November 2020 and June 2021, Miller and Search “had communicated via their personal cell phones with one and another over 40 times. Many of these phone calls were either just before or just after Sumter County Commission meetings.”