AG Moody Leaves Legacy of Fighting Fed Overreach, Protecting the Border, Prosecuting Traffickers, Combating the Opioid Crisis, Defending Life, Revolutionizing ORT Investigations, Recruiting Hundreds of LEOs, Modernizing Crime Reporting Nationwide and More

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Release Date
Jan 21, 2025
Contact
Chase Sizemore
Phone
(850) 245-0150

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Over six years as Attorney General, Ashley Moody led Florida on a path of increased public safety and prosperity – achieving hundreds of local, state and nationwide victories for Floridians since 2019. Some highlights include litigating the historic multibillion-dollar opioid settlement, beating Biden’s unlawful immigration policies in federal court, creating a nationwide crime reporting hotline, launching a Human Trafficking Strike Force, helping recruit hundreds of new law enforcement officers and much more.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Serving as Florida’s Attorney General is a tremendous honor. After six years as the state’s Chief Legal Officer, I am grateful for all of the progress we made fighting the opioid crisis, putting human traffickers behind bars, pushing back on Biden’s unlawful immigration policies, modernizing crime reporting nationwide, revolutionizing organized retail theft investigations, recruiting hundreds of new law enforcement officers and so much more. 

“I have been honored to fight alongside of our great Governor, Ron DeSantis, in so many important legal battles and innovative initiatives contributing to Florida’s continued prosperity. Florida is lucky to have such a committed governor and dedicated legislative leaders who have helped us craft new laws to fight crime, protect Floridians and ensure we remain the freest, most prosperous state in the nation. 

“Of course, we could not have achieved so many of these successes without Florida’s outstanding law enforcement officers. These heroes are the backbone of our state and risk their lives to keep Florida on the right track. I am so thankful for their support over the past six years and their selfless sacrifices as we worked together to build a Stronger, Safer Florida.” 

To read Attorney General Moody's final newsletter message, click here. 

Moody was first elected to lead the Florida Department of Legal Affairs in 2018 with 4,232,532 votes and again in 2022 with 4,651,279 votes, winning with 60.6% of the vote statewide. Moody promised to combat the opioid crisis, fight human trafficking, support law enforcement, protect seniors, and keep Florida safe – and she delivered on all of these promises.


Combating the Opioid Crisis: 

Before even taking office, Attorney General Moody began looking for ways to fight the national opioid crisis claiming lives in Florida. Right after taking office, Attorney General Moody chaired the Statewide Task Force on Opioid Drug Abuse and assembled a working group of experts to identify strategies and best practices for addressing the crisis. Attorney General Moody played a key role in securing a massive multibillion-dollar settlement from major opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies. Attorney General Moody also demanded Biden classify illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction and declare Mexican drug cartels smuggling fentanyl into the country as terrorist organizations. To help Floridians learn about the dangers of illicit fentanyl and opioid use, Attorney General Moody created Dose of Reality Florida and Fast Facts on Fentanyl. Recognizing the importance of law enforcement on the front lines of the crisis, Attorney General Moody created the Helping Heroes program to provide free naloxone, an opioid overdose-reversal medication, to law enforcement and first responders across the state. 

Significant initiatives taken by Attorney General Moody to address the national opioid and fentanyl crisis claiming lives in Florida include:


Challenging Unlawful Federal Immigration Policy: 

Attorney General Moody led the charge to hold Biden and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas accountable for their unlawful policies that allowed more than 10 million unvetted illegal immigrants into the country. As a result of Biden’s dereliction of duty, transnational criminal organizations used the chaos at the U.S. Southwest Border to bring massive amounts of illicit substances, like fentanyl, into the United States, fueling drug overdose deaths of more than 100,000 Americans each year of Biden's term in office. 

During that time, Attorney General Moody visited the U.S. Southwest Border on multiple occasions and filed legal action after legal action to fight back against the Biden administration’s unlawful and destructive immigration policies. Attorney General Moody won many of the federal legal challenges. 

In 2023, a federal judge sided with Attorney General Moody, ruling that Biden is responsible for the border crisis and claiming Biden effectively turned the U.S. Southwest Border into “little more than a speedbump.” As part of that litigation, Attorney General Moody’s office deposed the sitting Border Patrol Chief and uncovered mountains of damning evidence against the Biden administration. That judge ordered Biden’s catch-and-release policy unlawful. However, the Biden administration repeatedly attempted to evade this ruling, changing processes and program names, and Attorney General Moody kept pushing back in court.

Examples of some legal battles include:


Supporting Law Enforcement:

A former federal prosecutor, former judge and the wife of a law enforcement officer, AG Moody placed an emphasis on supporting law enforcement and ensuring officers have the tools needed to do their jobs. Earlier this month, Police1 recognized Attorney General Moody as one of the “Got Your Six” National Champions of Law Enforcement. This award recognizes those who have made exceptional contributions in backing the blue across the country. 

Immediately after taking office, Attorney General Moody launched the Back the Blue campaign to highlight the brave and selfless service of Florida law enforcement officers, citizens and organizations taking extraordinary steps to forge positive relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve. Since then, Attorney General Moody has presented more than 50 awards. 

In 2020, Attorney General Moody was appointed to President Donald Trump’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. The Commission explored modern issues affecting law enforcement that impact the ability to reduce crime. 

In 2021, following calls to defund the police nationwide, Attorney General Moody launched Be A Florida Hero to help recruitment in Florida. These efforts have positioned Florida as a law enforcement-friendly state, encouraging officers from across the nation to consider relocating. Through her initiatives and leadership, Attorney General Moody has made a significant impact on law enforcement by enhancing morale, strengthening recruitment and promoting respect for the profession. The Be A Florida Hero website provided a one-stop shop for any law enforcement officers to view different agencies and openings. Hundreds of LEOS from 49 states have taken the pledge to become a Florida hero. 

In May 2021, Moody launched the Thin Line Tribute, a program honoring front-line officers for their daily sacrifices and contributions. This initiative has been instrumental in boosting officer morale and fostering a culture of respect and appreciation for those in uniform. Additionally, she created the Sunshine Salute Series, which highlights the experiences of new law enforcement officers relocating to Florida, further showcasing the state’s commitment to supporting its officers.

Initiatives Attorney General Moody implemented to support law enforcement include:

  • In 2019, Attorney General Moody launched the Back the Blue campaign to highlight law enforcement officers, citizens and organizations taking extraordinary steps to forge positive relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve;
  • Since taking office, Attorney General Moody has hosted several strategic events focused on mental health and supported legislation to respond to mental health challenges faced by officers;
  • In 2020, Attorney General Moody was appointed to President Donald Trump’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. The Commission explored modern issues affecting law enforcement that impact the ability to reduce crime; 
  • In 2020, Attorney General Moody announced a new statewide number, **TIPS, that anyone can call to anonymously report crime. Dialing **TIPS from any cellphone will automatically route the caller to the closest Crime Stoppers office; 
  • In 2021, Attorney General Moody started Be A Florida Hero, a recruitment initiative that encourages jobseekers or law enforcement officers in other states to pursue a law enforcement career in the Sunshine State. Individuals who answer the call to be a Florida hero are eligible to receive signing bonuses, scholarship programs and out-of-state relocation support;
  • In 2021, Attorney General Moody launched the Thin Line Tribute initiative to recognize front-line officers for their bravery and unrelenting efforts;
  • In 2022, Attorney General Moody worked with Gov. DeSantis and lawmakers to create incentives and bonuses for new officers — including a $5,000 sign-on bonus, academy scholarship program, equivalency training costs and more;
  • In 2022, Crime Stoppers USA adopted Florida’s statewide crime reporting tip line, **TIPS, to be used nationwide;
  • In 2023, Attorney General Moody, alongside Gov. DeSantis, supported bail-reform legislation to help keep dangerous criminals off the streets; 
  • In 2023, Attorney General Moody launched Helping Heroes, a program that provides free naloxone to law enforcement officers and other first responders on the front lines of the opioid crisis;
  • In 2024, Attorney General Moody, alongside sheriffs and business leaders, released the Stronger Safer Cities report — a roadmap for building and maintaining a safe, prosperous Florida; 
  • In 2024, Attorney General Moody welcomed numerous new officers who moved from other states and answered the call to become a Florida hero through the new Sunshine Salute Series;
  • In 2024, Attorney General Moody worked with state lawmakers to secure funding for the Applied Mental Health Certificate for Law Enforcement program; and
  • In 2024, Attorney General Moody worked with state legislative leaders to expand the First Responder Hope Line statewide to help first responders struggling with mental health challenges.


Fighting Human Trafficking: 

Fighting human trafficking and rescuing survivors was another main issue for Attorney General Moody. Moody served as Chair of the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, and the AG's Office of Statewide Prosecution prosecutes complex, multijurisdictional trafficking crimes. From her first days in office, AG Moody ordered a comprehensive review of all policies and task forces related to human trafficking. She assigned Statewide Prosecutors to task forces in all of Florida’s 20 judicial circuits to help state attorneys coordinate local efforts. Every year, as Chair of the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, Moody hosted the annual Human Trafficking Summit that brought together experts and stakeholders from across the country.

AG Moody also created a first-of-its-kind Human Trafficking Strike Force made up of OSP, Florida Department of Law Enforcement and local law enforcement to further coordinate efforts. Moody also partnered with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to train truck drivers across the state to spot and report human trafficking. Ahead of the two most recent Super Bowls hosted in Florida, Moody partnered with It’s A Penalty, FLHSMV, Truckers Against Trafficking, the Florida Trucking Association, Uber, the Florida Retail and Lodging Association, and the National and Florida Beer Wholesalers Associations to increase awareness of the crime in the lead up to the championship games. 

AG Moody also teamed up with Truckers Against Trafficking, Florida Department of Transportation and Busing on the Lookout to train more than 100 workers within the gaming and passenger transportation industries to spot and report human trafficking. 

In 2022, Moody launched the 100 Percent Club. The program recognizes businesses, organizations and entities that take proactive steps to provide workforce training to their employees about spotting and reporting trafficking. Since the launch, more than 12,000 individuals in Florida have received anti-human trafficking training through this initiative.

AG Moody worked with Sheriffs and county Clerks of Court to launch Project Protect to help human trafficking and domestic violence survivors feel more secure at home. In eligible counties, Project Protect provides doorbell cameras to survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, stalking and sexual violence free of charge. 

Moody created the Online Safety Toolkit designed to help parents teach their children about the dangers of human trafficking online and implement effective plans for safe internet use.  

Since 2019, Moody’s Office of Statewide Prosecution has charged more than 130 traffickers with a near-perfect conviction rating. 

 

Protecting Consumers and Seniors:

Protecting consumers and fighting for Florida’s seniors was a major priority for Attorney General Moody. In the fight to stop fraud and protect consumers, including seniors, from abuse, fraud and exploitation, Attorney General Moody during her first 100 days:

Since 2019, AG Moody’s Senior Protection Team has obtained more than $9 million for Florida seniors. AG Moody’s Consumer Protection Division secured nearly $700 million in recoveries, including relief and restitution. Enforcing Florida's price gouging laws that go into effect during a state of emergency, Moody recovered millions for gouging victims. Moody also modernized price gouging reporting — launching the NO Scam app to make it easier and more efficient to report incidences of price gouging directly from a smartphone. 

AG Moody created several programs to help consumers avoid falling victim to fraudulent schemes. Moody releases Consumer Alerts about emerging scams, fraudulent activities and deceptive practices. Through the program, AG Moody disseminates timely alerts to the public, providing information on new methods used to commit fraud, trends in consumer complaints and other deceptive practices that could potentially harm residents. The primary goal was to empower consumers with knowledge to prevent financial loss and other losses caused by scammers. Additionally, the program notified Floridians about available refunds, restitution and claims funds resulting from actions taken by the Consumer Protection Division. 

AG Moody’s Scams at a Glance program was an outreach initiative designed to inform older Floridians about common and emerging scams. The program offers easy-to-share, downloadable brochures in both English and Spanish, providing consumers with information on how to recognize and avoid fraudulent schemes. Topics covered include imposter scams, tech support scams and more. The brochures highlighted general signs of scams, such as unsolicited calls or emails, high-pressure tactics, threats of loss if immediate action is not taken and requests for immediate payment via wire transfer, credit, prepaid debit or gift cards.

Attorney General Moody was also a leader in the fight to stop illegal robocalls. AG Moody urged the Federal Communications Commission to encourage telecom companies to implement call-blocking services and adopt call authentication technologies, like STIR/SHAKEN, to prevent caller ID spoofing. In 2022, following an inquiry by Attorney General Moody, the FCC took action against foreign robocalls by requiring gateway providers to comply with STIR/SHAKEN protocols, aiming to reduce illicit robocalls originating from abroad. Moody has joined multiple nationwide efforts to tackle illegal robocalls, including the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force.


Keeping Florida Safe: Organized Retail Theft

Since the COVID-19 Pandemic, organized retail theft skyrocketed across the country in places where lax crime policies were employed — like in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York City. There, businesses left locations, and many residents fled the lawlessness. AG Moody worked with law enforcement and other state leaders to ensure that did not occur in Florida. 

In 2021, Moody partnered with the Florida Retailers Federation to launch the Florida Organized Retail Crime Exchange, a first-of-its-kind, statewide task force and a new interactive database to help spot trends, identify suspects and take down massive, organized retail theft rings. The database was designed to bridge the gaps among retailers, law enforcement and prosecutors by allowing shareable, searchable information on incidents of theft statewide. 

Initiatives taken by Attorney General Moody to combat organized retail theft and major cases include:

Last year, AG Moody worked with the Florida Sheriffs Association and Florida Chamber of Commerce to release the results of the Stronger Safer Cities report. The report is a guide map for building and maintaining a safe, prosperous Florida — and showed that Florida is stronger and safer due to upholding the rule of law. The report also argued that the lawlessness seen in states like California is due directly to their lax-on-crime policies.

AG Moody has also worked with legislative leaders to strengthen Florida’s laws to make it easier for prosecutors to hold organized crime rings accountable. This past Session, that included strengthening Florida’s laws against porch pirates — now it is a third-degree felony to steal items valued over $40 from a dwelling. Moody also created specialized training to help law enforcement across the state investigate and piece these cases together. 

Since 2019, AG Moody’s Statewide Prosecutors have charged 279 defendants and secured 267 guilty convictions in organized retail theft cases.

 

Antisemitism Actions:

Following the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on Israel, antisemitic incidents more than tripled across the United States. The epicenter of much of the antisemitic activity is college and university campuses. AG Moody previously reached out to higher education officials in 2023 and 2024 advising them of Florida’s zero-tolerance policy against antisemitism and provided information on state statutes that outlaw antisemitic hate crimes and supporting terrorist organizations.

AG Moody is a strong proponent of the U.S.’s ally, Israel, and standing up for Jewish Floridians. Some actions include:

 

Fighting Federal Overreach

Since Biden took office in 2021, Attorney General Moody has been a leader in the fight against the Biden administration’s attempt to overreach their authority in enacting a radical agenda. AG Moody fought back against Biden’s unlawful vaccine and mask mandates. Another area the Biden administration attempted to overreach is in attempting to implement the radical Green New Deal. Attorney General Moody led and joined many multistate actions to ensure Floridians were not burdened by onerous regulations. Moody also fought back against the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure all Floridians affected by natural disasters were eligible for recovery funds, not just those who supported a specific political party. Some actions include:

 

Curbing Teen Vaping

During her first year in office, upon learning that Florida just experienced a dramatic increase in the use of e-cigarettes among Florida youth, AG Moody launched a statewide listening tour to hear from parents, teachers and law enforcement about the growing problem of youth vaping. The Florida Department of Health released a report in April 2019, noting a 58% increase in the use of e-cigarettes among Florida high school students from 2017 to 2018. According to the report, nearly one in four Florida high school students admitted to vaping. That number has since decreased dramatically.

Following the statewide listening tour, AG Moody took several actions to protect minors, including:

 

Protecting Children Online

AG Moody was committed to protecting children online. Studies show the correlation between time on social media platforms and bad mental health. Moody launched investigations into Meta and Instagram, as well as took legal action, over the platform’s algorithms and practices that sought to addict children to using the service and then profit off the children’s data. 

AG Moody also called Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify to the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking about Facebook allowing traffickers to prey on victims using the platform. Moody also released the Online Safety Toolkit to help parents talk to children about safe internet use and to avoid online predators and traffickers.

A staunch supporter of the Second Amendment, AG Moody fought diligently for the right to bear arms. In 2019, Attorney General Moody led the fight against a proposed state constitutional amendment that would ban possession of "assault weapons." Moody argued that it was a “hide the ball” proposal and would have misled voters who thought “they were banning a specific type of firearm when in fact [through the amendment] they were banning virtually every long gun.” In 2020, Attorney General Moody’s efforts were successful, and the Florida Supreme Court tossed out the proposed amendment. AG Moody issued an opinion to clarify state law regarding the use of stabilizing braces for handguns in Florida. In 2024, Moody took legal action against an ATF rule that aimed to burden law-abiding citizens with bureaucratic red tape and costs by requiring thousands of citizens to register as a gun dealer to buy, sell or trade firearms with friends and neighbors. Moody also led and joined several amicus briefs seeking to defend the Second Amendment.

AG Moody also was a valiant fighter for the right to life. AG Moody defended a 2015 state law calling for a 24-hour waiting period before getting an abortion. Following the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Moody successfully petitioned the court to allow the state to defund Planned Parenthood. Moody defended challenges against the state’s 15-week abortion ban. To defend the law, Moody successfully argued that the Florida Supreme Court should recede from its precedent that a privacy clause in the state constitution protects "abortion rights." In 2024, she fought in court against a misleading proposed constitutional amendment allowing abortions up to viability. While the measure made the ballot, the amendment failed to receive 60% of the vote. Additionally, Moody secured a legal victory against Antifa and Jane’s Revenge activists and violent groups who vandalized crisis pregnancy centers in Florida in violation of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act. 

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