Election Fraud Cases

Leroy Scott Jr., Lillie Nichols, Terrance R. Stith, and Sandra Stith

Leroy Scott Jr., Lillie Nichols, Terrance R. Stith, and Sandra Stith pleaded guilty to one count each of vote buying. They were given funds from the St. Clair County Democratic Committee in order to buy votes for the upcoming election. Nichols and Mr. Stith were sentenced to four months in prison. Sandra Stith received one year of probation. Scott received 10 months' imprisonment and paid $3,100 in fines.

Source: https://herit.ag/3BL5sOk

Minnie Saulsberry

Minnie Saulsberry pleaded guilty to both conspiracy to commit voter fraud and voter fraud after she traded beer, gas, and cash for votes in a run-off election for Tallahatchee County supervisor.

Source: https://herit.ag/3i73osb , https://herit.ag/2ULc6Uh, https://herit.ag/2VisqLO

William Greg Eason

A Tallahatchie County jury found William Greg Eason guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit voter fraud and eight counts of voter fraud in connection with his work on Jerome Little's campaign to be District Five Supervisor for Tallahatchie County in a 2003 run-off election. Eason promised items of value (beer and money) to induce people to vote fraudulently by absentee ballot. Eason was sentenced to serve one year in prison for conspiracy to commit voter fraud, and a second year-long sentence plus seven concurrent one-year sentences for the eight counts of voter fraud. Eason's imprisonment totaled two years. His conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

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

Anita Moore, Valerie Moore, Carlos Hood, Wayne Shatley, and Ross Banner

Anita and Valerie Moore, Wayne Shatley, Carlos Hood, and Ross Banner paid people $10 to induce them to register to vote and $25 to induce them to vote for incumbent Caldwell County Sheriff Gary Clark or a straight party ticket for the 2002 election. The Moore sisters pleaded guilty and testified against the others, who were subsequently convicted. A judge sentenced Shatley to the maximum applicable sentence of 33 months in prison due to the "extensive disruption of a government service" that Shatley and his accomplices caused.

Source: https://herit.ag/2XugIyY, https://herit.ag/3l5QiNI, https://herit.ag/3xcAQ4O

Johnny Mendez

In West Virginia, Johnny Mendez, the sheriff of Logan County, pleaded guilty to federal charges that he accepted $10,000 in illegal contributions and used the money to buy votes in the 2000 and 2004 elections.

Source: https://herit.ag/3i8N2zg

Alvin Ray Porter, Jr.

Alvin Ray Porter, Jr., the former police chief of Logan County, pleaded guilty to buying votes during the 2002 Democratic Primary. Porter was one of several Logan County officials who conspired to influence elections in 2002. Porter was sentenced to three years of probation and was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine. He also was ordered to give speeches on his personal experiences with corruption to eighth grade civics classes and others.

Source: https://herit.ag/3Go5RIV, https://herit.ag/3nz0Ep5, 2:04-cr-00101-1

Glenn Pitts

Glenn Pitts pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of failure to cast or return a ballot in an authorized manner in connection with the overturned 2003 East Chicago Democratic mayoral primary. Pitts originally claimed that he had been offered $30 in order to hand his ballot to another individual. He initially faced a multitude of charges, including perjury, false application for a ballot, and voting in another precinct, which were dismissed as part of his plea agreement. He was sentenced to 139 days in county jail.

Source: https://herit.ag/375WKMo

Donnie Newsome

Knott County Judge-Executive Donnie Newsome was convicted of conspiracy to buy votes and vote buying in the May 1998 Knott County primary election. He was sentenced to 26 months in prison and fined $20,000.

Source: https://herit.ag/3zHp5oF

Willard Smith

Willard Smith was convicted of conspiracy to buy votes and vote buying in the May 1998 Knott County primary election. He was accused of paying impoverished, handicapped, illiterate, or otherwise impaired persons to vote for Knott County Judge-Executive Donnie Newsome by absentee ballot. Smith was sentenced to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Source: https://herit.ag/2XLMGqR, https://herit.ag/3BPBIzN

Elberta Brown, Leon Hunt, and Tobe Jackson

Elberta Brown, Leon Hunt, and Tobe Jackson pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted bribery in connection with their involvement in a vote-buying scheme surrounding a 2001 special election for Benton County Sheriff. All three engaged in vote-buying by offering $30 to individuals in an attempt to influence them to vote for Steven A. Thompson, a candidate in that election. Three of the individuals who received the money were undercover law enforcement officers. The investigations indicated that they tried to bribe upwards of 50 people on election day. All three faced a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a $3,000 fine.

Source: https://herit.ag/3BLm2xE

Lincoln Carmouche

Lincoln Carmouche was convicted of voter fraud in the Marksville mayoral race for bribing a voter. He was sentenced to two years in prison, which was suspended, and two years of supervised probation. He was also fined $2,050 and ordered to perform 64 hours of community service.

Source: https://herit.ag/3l3BRcT

Sheriff David Sutherland, Denita Lee, Eugene Emerson, Idas "Spooky" Neal, Jr., Judge Ann Richardson, Jimmy Richardson, Mary Jo Ingram, Scotty Cole, William F. Bailey

An absentee-ballot buying operation was uncovered in Winston County, Alabama, that led to the conviction of the sheriff, circuit clerk, a district judge, and several candidates for county commission and the board of education. The conspirators set out to buy absentee ballots in the 2000 Republican primary with bribes of cash, beer, and liquor. Judge Richardson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failing to report campaign expenditures; the others pleaded guilty to felony charges stemming from the operation. Bailey was sentenced to three years' probation, plus a $1,000 fine and 250 hours of community service. Neal got three years' probation, a $2,500 fine, and 250 hours' community service. Ingram was ordered to serve a year in prison and pay a $1,000 fine. Emerson got two years' probation. Judge Richardson resigned, and received a suspended six-month prison sentence, one year probation, and a $1,000 fine.

Source: bit.ly/2feojb2

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

41 Individuals

Project Westvote was a massive investigation by the FBI into endemic vote-buying operations in western North Carolina. The operation netted 41 convictions in counties throughout the western part of the state.

Source: https://herit.ag/376jFqW, https://herit.ag/3nRwHlF