The judge who sent former Sumter County Commissioner Oren Miller to jail has announced he’s stepping down from the bench.
Judge Anthony Tatti sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis announcing that he will be resigning effective March 31.
“It has been my great privilege and honor to serve the citizens of the State of Florida for nearly 40 years, but recent issues with my health have caused me to rethink how I want to end my legal career. I have been blessed to have worked at a job that I truly love, but I know now is the time for me to step away from public service and to begin writing the final chapters of my career as a lawyer,” Tatti wrote in a letter to the governor.
DeSantis will appoint Tatti’s successor.
In November 2022, Tatti ordered that Miller be held behind bars after a jury found him guilty of perjury. Miller was set free in January 2023 after spending the holiday season in jail.
Now Miller is demanding that the governor reinstate him to the seat on the county commission. DeSantis suspended Miller at the time of his initial arrest. Thus far, the governor’s office has been unresponsive to Miller’s demand.
Miller is also seeking more than $100,000 in back pay that he should have earned during his elected term as commissioner.
The perjury charge against Miller stemmed from interviews with the prosecutor’s office about phone calls Miller had with fellow former Commissioner Gary Search. Miller and Search were elected to the Sumter County Commission in 2020. Their election came after a huge property tax increase in 2019 that was seen as a sweetheart deal for the Developer of The Villages.
