Waechter's Felony Fraud Trial Pushed to 2014

BRADENTON – Former Sarasota Republican Party leader Bob Waechter's October 21 trial on felony charges for stealing a political rival's identity, has been postponed. The former Take Back Our Government frontman is now scheduled to stand trial in early January of 2014.

Waechter, 71, faces up to five years in prison after he allegedly used a prepaid debit card to make donations in the name of a political rival. Police say that they caught Waechter on video tape purchasing the cards that were then used to make donations in the name of fellow Republican Lourdes Ramirez of Siesta Key to multiple Democratic candidates, possibly to be used against her if she ran for office. 

Waechter, once on of the most powerful Republicans in the area, has since resigned his seat on the Sarasota-Bradenton Airport Authority Board, along with two positions on county advisory boards, and is no longer a member of the Sarasota County Republican Party's Executive Committee.