Rep. Garcia Aide At Center Of Ballot Fraud Investigation Resigns

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – U.S. Representative Joe Garcia's embattled communications director has called it quits.

Giancarlo Sopo, who is at the center of an ongoing criminal investigation into fraudulent absentee-ballot requests, resigned last Friday, according to CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald. The Miami congressman's office confirmed the resignation Monday.

Last month Garcia asked his chief of staff Jeffrey Garcia, no relation, for his resignation after he reportedly took responsibility for a plot that tried to manipulate the 2012 Democratic primary by the submitting of hundreds of fraudulent absentee-ballot requests.

Garcia's resignation came on the same day law enforcement investigators raided the homes of Sopo and Garcia's 2012 campaign manager John Estes.

Investigators reportedly found more than 500 fraudulent absentee ballot requests for the primary came from the same Internet Protocol, or IP, address in Miami, according to the paper.

State law requires prohibits anyone other than voters or their immediate family members from requesting mail-in ballots.

The congressman denied any knowledge of the alleged scheme and said he does not believe it impacted the election.

CBS4 news partner The Miami Herald contributed to this report.