Election Fraud Cases

Marvin Hershman

Marvin Hershman, of Lake County, voted twice in the 2016 general election. Hershman was charged with two counts of voting more than once and one count of perjury. He took a plea of convenience (nolo contendere) of disregarding election code and was sentenced to four months' imprisonment and ordered to pay a fine of $657.

Source: https://herit.ag/370bgWa, Case Number: 18CF00000538

Audrey Cook

Audrey Cook, a Madison County election judge, sent in a ballot marked for Donald Trump in the 2016 election on behalf of her recently deceased husband. She pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of attempted violation of the election code in exchange for dropping a felony perjury charge.

Source: https://herit.ag/3i4wdW6, https://herit.ag/3l1p4aZ, https://herit.ag/3x95kEW

Brian McDouglar

Brian McDouglar was convicted of falsifying or tampering with an absentee ballot. He was sentenced to two years in prison for the Class C felony.

Source: https://herit.ag/3y83Goj, https://herit.ag/3rDnspg

Augustus Stacker, Jr.

Augustus Stacker, Jr., of Belleville, Illinois, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of a violation of absentee ballots. He assisted in manipulating up to 27 fraudulent absentee ballots in a municipal election. Stacker was sentenced to 18 months of conditional discharge and required to pay court costs.

Source: https://herit.ag/3zLTEcZ, Case #13CF0066301

Pamela Bryant

Pamela Bryant, of Cahokia, pleaded guilty to three counts of incorrectly marking an absentee ballot. She received probation.

Source: https://herit.ag/375VM2J

Monica LaPlant

Monica LaPlant, of Cahokia, was charged with incorrectly marking an absentee ballot in the 2013 election. She was given probation after pleading guilty.

Source: https://herit.ag/2VgR4g8

Joan Fortner

In 2012, Joan Fortner pleaded guilty to voting twice in Illinois. She was sentenced to a period of supervised release.

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

Mahmoud Vakili

Mahmoud Vakili, an Iranian citizen living in Waukegan, Illinois, pleaded guilty to disregarding the election code after he registered to vote and voted five times, despite the fact that he is not a U.S. citizen and is therefore not eligible to vote. He was sentenced to 12 months of supervision and 100 hours of community service, and was required to pay court costs.

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

Parvin Vakili

Parvin Vakili, an Iranian citizen living in Waukegan, Illinois, pleaded guilty to disregarding the election code after she registered to vote and voted seven times despite the fact that she was not a U.S. citizen and was therefore not eligible to vote. She was sentenced to 12 months' supervision and 100 hours of community service, and was ordered to pay court costs.

Source: https://herit.ag/3f1dDwn

Maria Azada

Maria Azada, an illegal alien from the Philippines living in Illinois, was convicted of eleven charges--perjury and mutilation of election material--in relation to illegal voting. Despite being ineligible, Azada voted nine different times in various elections and claimed to be a U.S. citizen on two voter registration forms. She was sentenced to 120 days in jail, two years' conditional discharge, and 100 hours of community service.

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

Michael Collins

Michael Collins was convicted of election fraud and tax evasion after giving a false address to establish eligibility to vote in East St. Louis, even though he lived in Swansea. He was also elected to be a precinct committeeman in East St. Louis after getting family members to sign petitions to get him on the ballot. He was sentenced to 50 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.

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

William Brown

William Brown, of Cahokia, pleaded guilty to 22 charges related to election fraud after he worked with candidates for the Cahokia village board to rig their 2009 municipal election. Brown helped to apply for fraudulent absentee ballots and submit votes using those ballots. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail, two years probation, and 200 hours of community service.

Source: https://herit.ag/3iOfQfA, https://herit.ag/3i9u9fM

Anish Eapen

Anish Eapen, a city streets and sanitation superintendent in Chicago's 50th ward, pleaded guilty to absentee ballot violations. He approached residents of his ward while showing them his town badge, offered to help them cast absentee ballots, and filled out some of their ballots himself while working for an alderman candidate. Eapen was sentenced to 364 days in Cook County jail.

Source: https://herit.ag/2VcrLvx, https://herit.ag/2VgEuNX

Kyle R. Johnson

Kyle R. Johnson, a former Cahokia village trustee, falsified absentee ballot applications and illegally cast the ballots he obtained during a municipal election. He received five years' probation, 14 days in jail, and 200 hours of community service.

Source: https://herit.ag/3rDnu0m, https://herit.ag/3761ime

Armando Ramos

Armando Ramos, of Chicago, pleaded guilty to absentee ballot violations in 2010. He had approached residents, offered to help them vote absentee, and in some cases filled out ballots for them during a 2007 election in which he was working for an alderman candidate. He was sentenced to 270 days in Cook County jail.

Source: https://herit.ag/3BLlZ4W, https://herit.ag/3iZz2Y2