By Rhetta Peoples
It started as a deposition. It ended with more questions about the witness than the woman on trial. In the state’s case against Orlando Commissioner Regina Hill, one name keeps resurfacing: Sandra Lewis, the operator of a nonprofit beauty school that doubles as a political canvassing hub. With no license, no accreditation, and no clear boundaries between politics and business, Lewis’s testimony may have cracked open a quiet economy of campaign favors, contracts, and silent deals.
A deposition taken on May 20, 2025, in the case against Orlando City Commissioner Regina Hill is raising new questions about witness credibility and the financial dealings surrounding her decades-long political operations.
Sandra Lewis, a key witness, operates Eboni Beauty Academy, a non-profit beauty training school that also contracts canvassing work for local political campaigns. According to her sworn testimony, Eboni Beauty Academy has been paid by political figures including Andrew Bain and Shannon “Shan” Rose for canvassing services. At that time, Rose was Hill’s political rival. Rose then hired Lewis to work at City Hall after Rose was elected.
During the deposition, led by Regina Hill’s attorney Fritz Scheller, Lewis described Eboni Beauty Academy as a business that trains both cosmetology students and political canvassers. Payments for canvassing services, Lewis said, were made directly to the Academy rather than to her personally.
When pressed about licensing and accreditation, Lewis admitted that Eboni Beauty Academy holds no official accreditation and her personal cosmetology license is not currently active. She also couldn’t recall when she last filed an annual report for the non-profit, estimating it had been “maybe two years.”
The most contentious moment of the deposition came when Lewis was repeatedly asked when she last provided beauty training through Eboni Beauty Academy. After several exchanges, Lewis refused to answer, questioning the relevance. Lewis said, “What does my business have to do with this deposition?”
This deposition is part of a larger case in which the State of Florida accuses Regina Hill of wrongdoing involving alleged forged documents and elder exploitation. When probed about the payments, Rose said she had no comment. The interaction between political canvassing work for Bain and Rose’s campaigns is now a point of legal and public interest.
Hill’s defense appears focused on undermining the reliability and motives of key witnesses like Lewis. The overlap between nonprofit work, political canvassing, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s (FDLE) accusations against Hill adds yet another layer to an already complex case.
What the Regina Hill Case Is Revealing About Power, Policing, and Protection
