Election Fraud Cases

John O'Hara

John O'Hara deliberately registered to vote using his girlfriend's address so that he could continue to vote and run for office in his old district. District lines were changed in 1992 during redistricting, prompting O'Hara to use the address, despite it not being his permanent residence. He was sentenced to 1,500 hours of community service and fined $20,000.

Source: https://herit.ag/3BQhS7Q

Austin Murphy

Former Congressman Austin Murphy was convicted on one charge of absentee ballot fraud. Murphy forged ballots for senior citizens living in a nursing home, claiming merely to be assisting them in exercising their voting rights. He was sentenced to six months of probation and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service.

Source: https://herit.ag/3BOrBLR, https://herit.ag/3iSGMLl, https://herit.ag/3i71Y0V

Humberto Hernandez

Humberto Hernandez was convicted of being an accessory to covering up fraud and removed from office after it was discovered that hundreds of fraudulent absentee ballots were cast in his favor. He was sentenced to a one-year prison term.

Source: https://herit.ag/2UXZNno, https://herit.ag/3BLKu1R

Gillian Yingling

Gillian Yingling and 18 others, of Rio Arriba County, including several local officials, were arrested on election-fraud charges, including ineligible absentee voting and false statements on absentee ballots. Yingling pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor voter fraud charge, receiving 364 days' supervised probation.

Source: bit.ly/2fL3qH7

James Vadella

James Vadella, brother of former Carbondale Mayor Joseph Vadella, pleaded guilty to a federal charge of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, as well as charges of forgery, conspiracy to tamper with public records, tampering with public records, and violations of the election code. Vadella conspired with his brother, Michael, to alter election results in a primary election in which he was a candidate by obtaining and falsely filling out absentee ballots. Vadella was sentenced to two months' imprisonment, followed by home confinement and probation.

Source: bit.ly/2udYp18, https://herit.ag/2VgRdjG

Joseph Vadella

Former Carbondale Mayor Joseph Vadella pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit voter fraud and election code violations related to a Pennsylvania district justice race. He was sentenced to serve between three and nine months in jail, to run concurrently with a four-month prison sentence for a related conviction in federal court of preventing a witness from testifying. Following his release, Vadella was subject to home confinement and probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/3BQhZAi, https://herit.ag/3iV3iD3

Michael Vadella

Michael Vadella, the brother of former Carbondale Mayor Joseph Vadella, pleaded guilty in county court to conspiracy, forgery, tampering with public records, and election law violations. He also pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. Michael Vadella conspired with his brother, James, to alter election results in a primary election in which James was a candidate. The pair obtained and falsely filled out absentee ballots. He was sentenced to three months in jail, followed by home confinement and probation.

Source: bit.ly/2udYp18, https://herit.ag/2VdbWF4

Liz Diaz

Liz Diaz, a former 4th District town committee member in Hartford, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit election fraud and to witness tampering after she registered ineligible voters to receive absentee ballots and intimidated a witness to lie about her reason for requesting an absentee ballot in a court hearing regarding the 1996 Democratic town committee election. She was sentenced to two months in jail.

Source: https://herit.ag/2VheVvT, https://herit.ag/2Zf8agl, https://herit.ag/3hQnAhw

Virgen Figueroa

Virgen Figueroa, a former town committee member from Hartford, pleaded guilty to absentee ballot fraud and forgery. In a plot with several other individuals to elect Democrat candidates for town committee in the 1996 election, Figueroa registered ineligible voters to receive absentee ballots and helped them to mark their ballots. She was sentenced to two months in jail.

Source: https://herit.ag/3AxQYR6, https://herit.ag/2UMDX6A

Jackson Jones, Don McCranie, and Doyce Mullis

Jackson Jones, Don McCranie and Doyce Mullis, Dodge County sheriff, commissioner, and former commissioner, respectively, were convicted of conspiracy to buy votes. The harshest sentence went to McCranie, who received a 30-month prison term, three years of probation, 150 hours of community service, and $5,000 in fines. Sheriff Jones was sentenced to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Doyce Mullis was sentenced to one year in prison, three years of supervised release, 100 of community service, and a $5,000 fine. They were the last of 27 people to be sentenced in the election fraud case, which state investigators said also included cases of double voting, felon voting, and at least one ballot being cast in the name of a dead person.

Source: https://herit.ag/3f2YD0W

Edwin E. Garcia

Edwin E. Garcia, a former lawmaker and Hartford Police Sergeant, pleaded no contest to three felony counts of absentee ballot fraud, tampering with a witness, and accepting an illegal campaign contribution. Garcia and his campaign workers systematically registered hundreds of young voters and furnished many with absentee ballots that they neither qualified for nor understood. He received a sentence of one year of house arrest.

Source: https://herit.ag/3iMzg4w

Barbara Landers

Barbara Landers, a Democrat campaign worker, was involved in a massive absentee ballot scheme during the 1993 Pennsylvania special state senate election. She was convicted of 30 counts of misleading absentee voters, given a suspended sentence, and fined $1,000.

Source: https://herit.ag/3Cxo187

Ramon Pratt

Ramon Pratt, a Democrat campaign worker, was involved in a massive absentee ballot scheme during the 1993 Pennsylvania special state senate election. He pleaded guilty to 22 counts of election law violations for his role in the scheme. Pratt was sentenced to two years of probation for his involvement.

Source: https://herit.ag/2Z5MZx0

Sandra Sewell

Sandra Sewell was convicted on voter fraud charges stemming from her 1991 efforts to help Calvin McFarland fraudulently win re-election for a seat on the Wilkinson County Board of Supervisors. Sewell notarized fraudulent absentee ballots in the race. Sewell was convicted on eight counts related to the fraud and ordered to serve five years in prison and pay a $2,000 fine. Sewell, an attorney, was also disbarred.

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

Calvin McFarland

Calvin McFarland, an incumbent running for re-election to the Wilkinson County Board of Supervisors, was convicted on two counts relating to illegally signing absentee ballots. McFarland, a Democrat, lost in the primary, and after a lengthy series of runoffs and challenges, was indicted along with 13 other then-current and former county officials. McFarland was charged with six counts of falsely signing names to ballots, and was convicted of two. One of them charged McFarland with signing a ballot in the name of 'Lottie James,' and then falsely attesting that James' signature was valid. For each charge, McFarland was sentenced to five years' imprisonment and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. One of the prison sentences was suspended.

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