Voter Fraud Report

Chester Jones and Sherman Neace pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a vote-buying scheme masterminded by the two men during the 2008 election. Jones was running for the Perry County School Board and also served as chairman of the county Democrat Party executive committee. Neace, a former county judge-executive, was running for magistrate. The pair accepted $7,500 from the Kentucky Democrat Party to fund get-out-the-vote efforts, but instead used the money to buy the votes of 75 Perry County voters for $100 apiece. Both men pleaded guilty to mail-fraud charges for mailing false campaign-spending documents to state agencies to cover up their illegal activity. Jones was sentenced to one year in prison, and Neace was sentenced to three years of probation, serving the first six months in home confinement.