Election Fraud Cases

Richard Howard

Richard Howard 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 subscribing a fictitious name, or the name of another to an initiative petition and registration of a fictitious person. He was sentenced to a suspended sentence of three years and three years of probation.

Source: bit.ly/3kUNeSa, bit.ly/314Q6Us

Louis Wise

Louis Wise 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 subscribing a fictitious name, or the name of another to an initiative petition and registration of a fictitious person. He was sentenced to a suspended sentence of 16 months in state prison and three years of formal probation.

Source: bit.ly/3kUNeSa, bit.ly/314Q6Us

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: bit.ly/3kUNeSa, bit.ly/314Q6Us

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: bit.ly/3kUNeSa, bit.ly/314Q6Us

Andrew Grant

Andrew Grant, a city alderman in Canton, tried to buy at least one person's vote in the 2017 municipal election in which he was running. Grant was charged with four counts of voter fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit voter. Grant pleaded guilty to one conspiracy charge. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, which was suspended, and he resigned from office.

Source: bit.ly/2MVSrus, bit.ly/2MeHl4a

Cary Johnson

Cary Johnson, the former Canton Fire Chief, bought votes using money and beer in his 2017 race for fire chief. Johnson was indicted on three counts of voter fraud, but as part of a plea deal, he plead guilty to one count and was admitted to a pre-trial diversion program. Johnson was given one year to complete the program in order to avoid a felony conviction.

Source: bit.ly/2MdJLzR, bit.ly/2YJ6Ukr

Frank Raia

Frank Raia, of Hoboken, acted illegally by attempting to bribe voters with $50 to send in mail-in ballots to support his candidacy for a seat on the Hoboken City Council and a rent-control referendum. Raia was charged with vote-buying and was found guilty following a jury trial. He was sentenced to 3 months in prison, one year of supervised released, and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine.

Source: bit.ly/32CJ2gV

Brian K. "Wormy" Hodge

Brian "Wormy" Hodge, a reserve deputy with the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, conspired with Betty Best to buy votes for Randy White's campaign for sheriff. White narrowly won the race, but was subsequently removed from the post. The pair paid between $20 and $40 per vote. Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to buy votes, mainly of absentee ballots. Hodge was sentenced to a five-year probation term and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service. The judge waived the associated fine.

Source: on.wbir.com/2YJRz2W, bit.ly/2YGaN9L, bit.ly/33otI7T

Betty Best

Betty Best, of Monroe County, conspired with Brian "Wormy" Hodge to buy votes for Randy White's campaign for Sheriff. White narrowly won the race, but was subsequently removed from the post. The pair paid between $20 and $40 per vote. Both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to buy votes, mainly absentee ballots. Best was sentenced to three years of probation.

Source: on.wbir.com/2YJRz2W, bit.ly/2YGaN9L, bit.ly/33otI7T

Gary Risner, Larry Shepherd, Tami Jo Risner, Scott McCarty

Magoffin County Magistrate Gary Risner, Deputy County Clerk Larry Shepherd, and Tami Jo Risner (his ex-wife) were convicted of felony voter fraud for a vote buying scheme for a host of candidates in the 2014 election. An accomplice, Scotty L. McCarty, was also charged but pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and testified against the others. His testimony revealed that the group had participated in vote buying conspiracies in elections dating back to 2010. He also testified that Larry Shepherd contributed $10,000 and Risner contributed $2,000 to the vote buying racquet, paying individuals $50 to vote for their slate of candidates. Shepherd also revealed that in a 2010 election, while acting as a precinct officer, he added 60 votes to the total for a candidate, and Risner signed the names of those who hadn't voted to cover the discrepancy. The U.S. District Judge scheduled sentencing for December 2016, with the charges carrying a maximum penalty of five years.

Source: bit.ly/2e2YkWn

Scott Lynn McCarty

Scott McCarty pleaded guilty to bribing a voter in the 2014 Kentucky primary elections. McCarty admitted to accompanying a woman into a voting booth to make sure she voted for the right candidates. Afterwards, McCarty directed the woman to another person who would pay her for her vote. McCarty is to be sentenced in May and faces up to a year in prison.

Source: bit.ly/2f1Jcp1

Stanley Leger

In the 2014 Turkey Creek election, incumbent mayor Heather Cloud was voted out of office by a margin of four votes. It was later revealed that Stanley Leger, a campaign employee for challenger Bert Campbell, had paid $15 each to four mentally impaired individuals in exchange for their promise to vote for Campbell. Cloud challenged the election. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals of Louisiana ordered that the four votes be struck and a new election be held, which Cloud won. Leger later pleaded guilty to illegal electioneering, receiving a suspended six-month jail sentence and 18 months' probation. He was also ordered to pay a $500 fine and $2,000 in restitution to Mayor Cloud.

Source: bit.ly/2fdBWaj, bit.ly/2fwgzEM, bit.ly/2eVDmba

Max Sanders

Max Sanders, a student at the University of Minnesota, was charged with bribery, treating, and solicitation after offering to sell his vote to the highest bidder on eBay. Offering to buy or sell a vote is a felony under an 1893 Minnesota law. He was sentenced to 50 hours' community service. The charges will be dismissed if he completes his community service within six months.

Source: cbsn.ws/2tcZdOK, bit.ly/2uPwPED, bit.ly/2tcX0Tp

Francisco "Frankie" Garcia, Rebecca Gonzalez, Diana Balderas Castaneda, and Guadalupe Escamilla

In the Donna School Board race, four campaign workers participated in a scheme that involved buying votes with cocaine, cash, beer, and cigarettes. All four pleaded guilty; Garcia received an 18-month sentence, and Castaneda received an eight-month sentence with credit for cooperating against her co-defendants.

Source: bit.ly/2e8xPPu, bit.ly/2uesT2u

James Steven Robinson, Ruth Thomasine Robinson, James Robinson

Ruth Robinson, the former mayor of Martin, Kentucky, was sentenced to 90 months' imprisonment on a variety of charges that included vote buying, identity theft, and fraud. With specific regard to the election charges, Robinson and co-conspirators James "Red" Robinson (her husband) and James Steven Robinson (her son) threatened and intimidated residents of Martin in the run-up to the 2012 election in which Robinson was seeking re-election. The cabal targeted residents living in public housing or in properties Robinson owned, threatening them with eviction if they did not sign absentee ballots the Robinsons had already filled out. Robinson also targeted disabled residents and offered to buy the votes of others. "Red" Robinson was sentenced to 40 months in prison, and his son James Steven Robinson received a total of 31 months' imprisonment.

Source: bit.ly/2fFb4Tv, bit.ly/2ff631s