Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Thursday ordered a probe into Andrew and Tristan Tate, influencer brothers, as they landed in the U.S. from Romania, where they have been charged with human trafficking.
The brothers were accused in Romania of forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, allegations they have denied. The Tates were arrested in late 2022 and indicted in 2024 Andrew Tate also faced charges for rape and was previously on house arrest.
They landed at midday Thursday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., after Romanian authorities lifted travel restrictions. Their travel to Florida caught authorities by surprise.
“Early this morning, I directed my office to work with our state law enforcement partners to conduct a preliminary inquiry into these individuals,” Uthmeier wrote in a Thursday post on X.
“Florida has zero tolerance for human trafficking and violence against women. If any of these alleged crimes trigger Florida jurisdiction, we will hold them accountable,” he added.
Both Tates hold dual U.S.-British citizenship.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said the federal government would decide what to do about the brothers, but Uthmeier was looking at any legal avenues his state could pursue.
“We have no involvement in that. I read about it through the media. Clearly the federal government has jurisdiction whether they want to rebuff his entry into the United States, and I have confidence that whether it’s Pam Bondi or Kristi Noem that they will be looking at that,” he said, when asked about Andrew Tate.
But he clearly warned the Tate brothers that Florida is not a place where human trafficking or other illegal activity will be condoned.
“I do know our attorney general, James Uthmeier, is looking at what state hooks and jurisdiction we may have to be able to to deal with this. But the reality is, is, no, Florida is not a place where, where you’re welcome with that, with that type of conduct in the air, and I don’t know how it came to this, we were not involved, we were not notified,” DeSantis said.
