Charges against former state health department worker dismissed after she admits guilt

Former Department of Health data analyst turned whistleblower Rebekah Jones reached an agreement with state prosecutors to dismiss the criminal hacking charges against her. As a condition of the dismissal, Jones admitted she was guilty.

Amid suspicions that Jones illegally accessed the Florida Department of Health System to send a message on the agency’s internal platform, police searched her home in December 2020. A subsequent search of her electronics suggested that she sent a message to 1,750 people, downloaded confidential data, and saved it to her devices, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Jones was later charged with an offense against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks and electronic devices, a third-degree felony. Jones officially admitted guilt as part of the Dec. 8 agreement.

This saga began in May 2020 when Jones accused Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration of manipulating COVID-19 data. After raising concerns about the lack of transparency within the agency, she said her responsibilities and duties were taken away, citing the loss of her position of overseeing the COVID-19 dashboard.

The state suspected her of gaining “unauthorized access” to an employee messaging platform to send a group text by using her old log-in credentials. The state alleged that she instructed her former employees to “be a hero” and “speak up” against COVID-19 in a Nov. 10 message.

Jones denied sending the email at the time.

Attention on Jones heightened in December 2020 when the Florida Department of Law Enforcement raided her Tallahassee home to execute a search warrant of her computer equipment.

Agents can be seen entering her home with guns drawn in a recording captured by a camera on Jones’ bookshelf.

FDLE released about 30 minutes of police body-camera footage showing portions of the raid after Jones claimed on Twitter that the agents “pointed a gun in my face. They pointed guns at my kids.”

FDLE denied that agents pointed their guns at anyone when they executed the search warrant.

Shortly thereafter, in January 2021, the state issued an arrest warrant for Jones, charging her with one count of offenses against users of computers, computer systems, computer networks and electronic devices.

On December 8, 2022, Jones announced, via the social media platform substack, that the state attorney was dismissing the charges against her, contingent, in part, on her $20,000 payment to police for “investigative costs.”

While detailing the terms of the deferred prosecution agreement, she lamented that she had been subjected to an unfair justice system with “unchecked power to intimidate people into silence and compliance.” She took aim at DeSantis, referring to his supporters as “thugs” and claimed that his actions were an attack on speech, science, and freedom.

Court documents show that prosecution against Jones will be deferred for 24 months, conditioned on her fulfillment of its terms. Among these obligations include seeing a licensed mental health professional of the state’s choosing, admitting her guilt of the offense charged, completing 150 hours of community service at a minimum rate of 13 hours per week, and working regularly at a lawful occupation.

Any violation of these conditions affords the state attorney the right to revoke or modify the conditions of Jones’ deferred prosecution.