Election Fraud Cases

Audrey Cook

Audrey Cook, a Madison County election judge, sent in a ballot marked for Donald Trump in the 2016 election on behalf of her recently deceased husband. She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of attempted violation of the election code in exchange for dropping a felony perjury charge.

Source: https://herit.ag/3i4wdW6, https://herit.ag/3l1p4aZ, https://herit.ag/3x95kEW

Lowell "Ross" Colen

Lowell "Ross" Colen, a 10-year veteran of the Rising Sun Police Department, was forced to resign after pleading guilty to four counts of felony voter fraud. Colen was accused of illegally trying to help his father win election to the Rising Sun City Council by completing absentee voter applications and filling out ballots for people who were not eligible to vote in the county, and in some cases forging signatures. Colen evidently conducted some of this illegal activity while in uniform and on duty. He pleaded guilty to four counts of felony vote fraud and was sentenced to concurrently serve one year in prison and 185 days' probation.

Source: bit.ly/2mlTkMl, bit.ly/2l07BNH, bit.ly/2lpehs4

Ana Cuevas

Ana Cuevas, a campaign aide for Hector Ramirez, pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after she and other staff went door to door tricking potential voters into signing absentee ballot applications. They then took the applications to the Board of Elections, retrieved the absentee ballots, and voted for Ramirez without the voters' knowledge. Cuevas was sentenced to conditional discharge.

Source: https://herit.ag/3f1ksxT

Hector Ramirez

Hector Ramirez pleaded guilty to one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument. Ramirez, a 2014 State Assembly Candidate for the 86th District Assemby District, deceived voters into giving their absentee ballots to his campaign on the false premise that the campaign would then submit the ballots. Instead, Ramirez's campaign inserted his name on at least thirty-five of the absentee ballots. Ramirez initially won the 2014 race, but a recount determined he had lost by two votes. In lieu of jail time, Bronx Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett imposed a three-year ban on Ramirez running for office. Ramirez could face jail time if he runs for office in violation of his three-year ban. Prior to his guilty plea, Ramirez unsuccessfully ran for the same state assembly seat on numerous occasions, most recently in the 2016 election.

Source: https://herit.ag/3rDWtd7, https://herit.ag/2TCrzFs, https://herit.ag/3eYoWVW

Graciela Sanchez

Prosecutors charged Graciela Sanchez with four misdemeanor counts of violating election law in an effort to assist Guadalupe Rivera win re-election to the post of Weslaco city commissioner in 2013. Rivera and Sanchez were found to have illegally "assisted" absentee ballot voters. The results of the election were disputed, and a judge determined that 30 ballots had been illegally cast in an election decided by only 16 votes. Sanchez pleaded guilty and received two years' probation.

Source: bit.ly/2f8AtkT, bit.ly/2f8AtkT

Guadalupe Rivera

Guadalupe Rivera, a former Weslaco city commissioner, pleaded guilty to one count of providing illegal "assistance" to a voter by filling out an absentee ballot "in a way other than the way the voter directed or without direction from the voter." The fraud took place during Rivera's 2013 re-election bid, which he won by a scant 16 votes. His challenger sued alleging fraud, and a judge determined that 30 ballots had been illegally cast, enough to alter the outcome of the election. A new election was subsequently held, and Rivera lost. Rivera originally faced 16 election-related charges, 15 of which were dropped as part of his plea deal. He was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine.

Source: https://herit.ag/3BNfiPJ

Olivia Lee Reynolds

Olivia Lee Reynolds was convicted of 24 counts of voter fraud. While working on the 2013 campaign for her boyfriend, Dothan City Commissioner Amos Newsome, Reynolds filled out voters' ballots for them and told others for whom to vote. Her fraud had definite consequences: Commissioner Newsome won reelection by a mere 14 votes, losing the in-person vote by a wide margin but winning an incredible 96 percent of the absentee vote. Newsome himself faced pressure to resign as a consequence. Reynolds was sentenced to serve six months in a community corrections facility. She is appealing the conviction.

Source: https://herit.ag/3iQlYUM

Janice Lee Hart

Janice Lee Hart pleaded guilty to eight misdemeanor counts of attempted absentee ballot fraud in connection with misconduct while working on the 2013 campaign for District 2 City Commissioner Amos Newsome. Prosecutors charged that Hart was not present when absentee ballots were signed even though she was listed as a witness on the ballots. In the election, Newsome defeated his challenger by only 14 votes and received 119 out of the 124 absentee ballots cast. A judge sentenced Hart to 12 months in the county jail for each count, which he suspended to two years of probation for each count.

Source: https://herit.ag/3zHOLle

Lesa Coleman

A Houston County jury found Lesa Coleman guilty of seven felony counts of absentee ballot fraud related to the 2013 election for a city commission seat. Coleman received a three year split sentence. She will serve 180 days in jail followed by three years of probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/372sHFk, https://herit.ag/3rGpuVM

Brian McDouglar

Brian McDouglar was convicted of falsifying or tampering with an absentee ballot. He was sentenced to two years in prison for the Class C felony.

Source: https://herit.ag/3y83Goj, https://herit.ag/3rDnspg

Eugene Gallagher

Eugene Gallagher pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges in connection with the November 2013 election, in which he was a candidate for councilman in the Taylor Borough. He unlawfully persuaded Taylor residents and non-residents to register for absentee ballots in the election using a Taylor address. Gallagher was the top vote-getter in the election and won his first term as councilman. With his guilty plea, Gallagher can no longer hold public office. A judge sentenced him to a maximum of 10 months in jail and two months of house arrest for both his election fraud conviction and a DUI conviction. He was also sentenced to more than five years of court supervision and 200 hours of community service.

Source: https://herit.ag/3l0pZbE

Rafael Angel Elizondo

Rafael Angel Elizondo, of Cameron County, along with Jose Garza, engaged in illegal vote harvesting during the 2012 Democratic Primary run-off. Elizondo improperly posessed between 10 and 20 ballots without the consent of the voters. Elizondo faced a third degree felony method of returning marked ballot charge. He pleaded no contest to the charge and was sentenced to serve three days in county jail.

Source: https://herit.ag/378DMVm, https://herit.ag/3f4FtYr

Jose Angel Garcia

Jose Angel Garcia, of Cameron County, along with Rafael Angel Elizondo, engaged in illegal vote harvesting during the 2012 Democratic Primary runoff. Garza improperly possessed as many as 10 ballots without the consent of the voters. Garza faced five felony counts of method of returning marked ballot. He pleaded guilty to one of those charges and was sentenced to serve two days in county jail.

Source: https://herit.ag/3kX7GUW, https://herit.ag/3x9CsfN

Margarita Rangel Ozuna

Following an investigation by the Texas Attorney General's office, Margarita Rangel Ozuna was charged with engaging in election fraud, along with five others during the 2012 Democratic Primary runoff election in Cameron County. Ozuna pleaded guilty to charges of fraudulent use of absentee ballots and was sentenced to serve 15 days in Cameron County jail and required to pay a $250 fine. This was the second time that Ozuna was convicted of voter fraud. In 2013, she was convicted of felony voter fraud stemming from the 2010 election.

Source: bit.ly/2E3q99l, bit.ly/2pL2B4H

Augustus Stacker, Jr.

Augustus Stacker, Jr., of Belleville, Illinois, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of a violation of absentee ballots. He assisted in manipulating up to 27 fraudulent absentee ballots in a municipal election. Stacker was sentenced to 18 months of conditional discharge and required to pay court costs.

Source: https://herit.ag/3zLTEcZ, Case #13CF0066301