Election Fraud Cases

Christopher Williams

Christopher Williams was involved in a scheme that offered cigarettes and money to homeless people on Skid Row in exchange for fake signatures on ballot initiatives and voter registration forms. This resulted in hundreds of fraudulent signatures. He pleaded no contest to one felony count of circulating an initiative or petition containing false, forged or fictitious names. Williams was sentenced to 3 years’ probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/2WsDEhC, https://herit.ag/3Go5VZb

Nickey Huntley

Nickey Huntley was involved in a scheme that offered cigarettes and money to homeless people on Skid Row in exchange for fake signatures on ballot initiatives and voter registration forms. This resulted in hundreds of fraudulent signatures. He pleaded no contest to one felony count of circulating an initiative or petition containing false, forged or fictitious names. Huntley was sentenced to 3 years’ probation. 

Source: https://herit.ag/3l2W3vQ, https://herit.ag/3i5ACYN

Larry Wiggins

Larry Wiggins, 62, a registered Democrat from Sarasota, was charged by the state with one count of vote by mail fraud after he requested a mail-in ballot on behalf of his deceased wife during the 2020 general election. Election staff discovered the fraud during a routine check of the voter rolls, which revealed that his wife had died two years earlier. Wiggins forged his wife's signature on the ballot request form, and admitted that he intended to mail it back once he received it, but he was stopped by law enforcement. He pleaded nolo contendere to one count of vote-by-mail fraud, and was sentenced to 24 months’ probation, 100 hours of community service, and assessed $738 in court costs, fees, and fines.

Source: https://herit.ag/3Etplfa, https://herit.ag/3Vhy62G

Kim Phoung Taylor

Kim Phuong Taylor, the wife of Jeremy Taylor, was charged by the federal government with 26 counts of providing false information in registering or voting in violation of 52 U.S.C. § 10307(c), 3 counts of fraudulent registration in violation of 52 U.S.C. § 20511(2)(A), and 23 counts of fraudulent voting in violation of 52 U.S.C. § 20511(2)(B), in connection with a scheme to get more votes for her husband’s unsuccessful 4th congressional district primary election in June 2020, and her husband’s successful Woodbury County Supervisor election in November 2020. Taylor targeted members of the Vietnamese community by assisting people with absentee ballot requests, filling out and signing both ballot requests and ballots on behalf of individuals, and encouraging others to request and sign for ballots on behalf of their family members. Many of the individuals she was targeting had a very limited understanding of English. She was convicted by a jury of all 52 charges and was sentenced to 4 months in prison for each count served concurrently, 2 years of probation for each count served concurrently, and ordered to pay an assessment of $5,200. 

Source: herit.ag/3yE3mD3 , herit.ag/3wX57ul , herit.ag/459Ckzp , herit.ag/3VjMoSZ , herit.ag/4bVmavN

Delores "Dee" Handy

Delores "Dee" Handy, of Crowley was found guilty of failing to mark a ballot as instructed when assisting an elderly voter, a misdemeanor. She was sentenced to 11 months in jail which was suspended, two years of probation, and fined $800.

Source: https://herit.ag/3i9o8PS, https://herit.ag/3zFrFLL

William Rojas

William Rojas, of Hoboken, acted illegally by attempting to bribe voters with $50 to send in mail-in ballots to support a candidate for a seat on the Hoboken City Council during the 2015 Hoboken municipal election. Rojas was charged with and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring with others to use the mail to promote a voter bribery scheme. He was sentenced to one year of probation.

Source: bit.ly/3dz9yPG , bit.ly/2QfW2Y8 , bit.ly/2PaCzI4 , bit.ly/32sVwIW

Dyon Herrera

Dyon Hererra, of Espanola, conspired with Laura Seeds to falsify absentee ballots in support of Seeds' husband's candidacy for mayor in 2016. Hererra forged the signatures of his grandparents on absentee ballots. The candidate that he casted the ballots in favor of won the race by two votes. Herrera was charged with conspiracy to violate the municipal election code of Espanola, a fourth degree felony, and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 18 months probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/3l1iAJf , https://herit.ag/3i9ub7o, Case no. D-117-CR-201800047

Laura Seeds

Laura Seeds, of Espanola, conspired with Dyon Herrera to falsify several absentee ballots in favor of Seeds' husband, a city councilman who was running for mayor in 2016. Seeds was charged with two counts of making false statements relative to the municipal election code, one count of conspiracy to violate the municipal election code, and ten counts of possession of another person's absentee ballot. Seeds was found guilty of two counts of making false statements relative to the municipal election code and two counts of possession of another person's absentee ballot, which are all fourth degree felonies. She was sentenced to six months of house arrest, followed by five years of supervised probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/3f4YnhM, Case no. D-117-CR-201800048,

Lauren Creekmore Peabody

Lauren C. Peabody, of Virginia Beach, worked as a campaign staffer for the GOP candidate in the 2nd Congressional District of VA. In that role, she signed off on petition signatures, that she did not witness, to get Shaun Brown, a Democrat, on the ballot as an Independent in order to take away votes from the Democratic nominee (her boss's main opponent). The signatures were forgeries of deceased individuals and former residents. She was charged with two counts of election fraud and pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of "willful neglect of election duty." She received a 12-month suspended sentence based on a year of good behavior and was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

Source: https://herit.ag/3BMDxh2

Chad Armstrong

Chad Armstrong, a convicted felon on probation, voted in the 2018 election despite being ineligible. He was charged with felony election fraud but pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to five days in jail.

Source: bit.ly/37HfjaT

Tess Alayna Bishop

Tess Bishop, of Salt Lake City, UT,voted "unlawfully and knowingly" in a Harper's Ferry municipal election where her father, Wayne Bishop, was elected mayor by a margin of 14 votes. Bishop was charged with one count of illegal voting, and pled guilty to the charge. She was sentenced to 3 days of incarceration, that could be served by completing 24 hours of community service, and ordered to pay all court fees.

Source: https://herit.ag/2TBAc30, https://herit.ag/3f296cQ

Elbert Melton

Elbert Melton, the former mayor of Gordon, illegally notarized two ballots, without witnesses present, during the 2016 election in which he was running for mayor. Melton won that race by only 16 votes. Melton was convicted on two counts of absentee ballot fraud, was removed from office, and was sentenced to serve one year in prison followed by two years of probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/3y8oU5f, https://herit.ag/3xcAQBQ, https://herit.ag/3zImZEW

Richard John Greenfield

Richard John Greenfield was charged by the state after he voted twice in the 2016 election, once in Pima County, Arizona, and again in Washoe County, Nevada. Greenfield, a registered Republican, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of attempted illegal voting. He was sentenced to two years of probation, ordered to complete at least 100 hours of community restitution, and fined $2,500. He is also prohibited from voting while on probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/3f2mGNt, https://herit.ag/2TBqNsg

Richard Davis

Richard Davis, of Pacific Grove, registered four dogs (Pfeiffer, Chantarelle, Rocky, and Cooper) and his deceased father to vote between 2013 and 2018. Davis was charged with voter registration fraud. He pled guilty and was sentenced to three years of probation and 48 hours of community service.

Source: https://herit.ag/3l01oUz , https://herit.ag/3i4URpJ

Gustavo Araujo Lerma

Gustavo Araujo Lerma, a Mexican citizen who resides in Sacramento County, illegally assumed the identity of American citizen Hiram Enrique Velez, and illegally voted repeatedly over two decades. Lerma was convicted in federal court of one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of making a false statement on a passport application, and five counts of voting by an alien in a federal election. Lerma, a self-described Republican donor and ardent Trump supporter was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison. 

Source: bit.ly/323ErD1, bit.ly/2PgcOVR