Election Fraud Cases

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

Eva Corrigan

Eva Corrigan admitted to failing to co-sign the absentee ballots of those she assisted. She was ordered by the Connecticut Elections Enforcement Commission to pay a $100 civil penalty.

Source: bit.ly/2u4xi8p

Barnaby Horton

Former state representative Barnaby Horton was charged with absentee ballot fraud after he was caught inducing elderly residents to cast absentee ballots for him. After a lengthy court battle, he pleaded guilty to felony charges of ballot fraud and agreed to pay a $10,000 fine, one of the largest fines ever imposed by the State Elections Enforcement Commission. A Superior Court judge sentenced Horton to two years' probation and ordered to perform 1,000 hours of community service.

Source: https://herit.ag/3rDnk9g

Michelle Chandler

Michelle Chandler, a worker in the city controller's office, was charged with a fraudulent receipt of ballot, voting outside of her district, and perjury in connection to misconduct during the 2003 East Chicago Democratic mayoral primary. She was found guilty of one count of perjury in a jury trial, a felony, and given one year of probation. Fraud in this 2003 mayoral primary was widespread, and the Indiana Supreme Court ultimately overturned the election results and ordered a special election that resulted in a different winner.

Source: https://herit.ag/3kYm67j

Valerie McGowan

Valerie McGowan pleaded guilty to one felony count of "voting in other precinct" during the ultimately-overturned 2003 East Chicago Mayoral election. McGowan was involved in a massive fraud scheme, and ultimately the results of the election overturned. She initially faced other charges, including fraudulent application for a ballot and perjury, which were dropped as part of her plea agreement. McGowan was sentenced to 18 months of probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/3f4FbRl

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

Joshua Workman

Joshua Workman, a Canadian citizen who was one of the youngest delegates to the 2000 Republican National Convention, was charged by the Department of Justice with casting ineligible votes during the 2000 and 2002 primary and general elections in Avery County. He made false statements claiming U.S. citizenship in order to vote. As part of a plea agreement, Workman pleaded guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge of providing false information to election officials and subsequently returned to Canada.

Source: https://herit.ag/2UTbYSA, bit.ly/2fmg7FW

Ronald Callaway

Ronald Callaway, also known as Jihad Q. Abdullah, and related to the infamous Atlantic City Callaway Political Organization, pleaded guilty to voting nine times in four elections. He was sentenced to one year in jail.

Source: https://herit.ag/3EAcmHv, https://herit.ag/3Aq8CGk

Larry Gray

Larry Gray was charged with illegally casting more than 25 absentee ballots in other people's names during the 2002 primary, but the sum total of his election fraud may have been much higher. The former sanitation director for the city applied for hundreds of ballots, successfully submitting 98 in the Democratic primary. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Gray was likely not the only one running this type of scheme. After pleading guilty, Gray received two years' probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/2TIUXKo, https://herit.ag/3l2K6WU, https://herit.ag/3x2sVHe

Edward Barquet and Michelle Corrall

Working as GOP voter registration employees during the 2000 general election, Edward Barquet and his girlfriend, Michelle Corrall, sought to capitalize on a $4 bounty for each Republican voter successfully registered. The pair submitted multiple fraudulent registrations, which included false information and forged signatures. Following their guilty pleas, a judge sentenced each of them to serve four months in jail and pay a $220 fine, followed by five years' probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/3x2sOvi

Dolores Scalesse

Dolores Scalesse admitted to violating Connecticut law by falsely claiming she was a witness to all the signatures on a state petition. She entered into a consent agreement with the Connecticut Elections Enforcement Commission and was ordered to pay a $250 civil penalty.

Source: bit.ly/2u4xi8p

Michael Singh

Michael Singh, of Stratford, CT, registered to vote, voted, and eventually was elected to the town council despite the fact that he is not a U.S. citizen. An immigrant from Jamaica, he registered to vote in 1999, ran unsuccessfully for state senate in 2000, and won a seat on the Stratford town council in 2001, where he became majority leader. The Connecticut Elections Enforcement Commission later found that he was not a U.S. citizen and required that he pay $4,000 in fines and resign from his position.

Source: https://herit.ag/372VR7l, https://herit.ag/3kpx1Gj

Hector Riellano

Hector Riellano admitted to failing to acknowledge assisting someone with the filing of their absentee ballot. He was fined $350 by the Connecticut Elections Enforcement Commission.

Source: bit.ly/2u4xi8p