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N.J. Attorney General alleges losing mayoral campaign disenfranchised voters by destroying ballots
UPDATED
Atlantic City Councilman Marty Small and 13 people who worked on his unsuccessful mayoral campaign this spring were indicted Thursday on charges they conspired to commit election fraud during the June Democratic primary through a variety of schemes involving messenger absentee ballots, state Attorney General Anne Milgram announced in Trenton.
The state Division of Criminal Justice obtained a 10-count grand jury indictment charging Small, 35, who is also director of after-school activities for the Atlantic City School Board, and 13 campaign workers. Small and the others are charged with conspiracy, four counts of election fraud, absentee ballot fraud, tampering with public records, falsifying records, and forgery. Four of the people are also charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution.
"Councilman Small and his co-defendants are charged with seeking to corrupt the election process," Milgram said. "We charge that they disenfranchised voters by destroying messenger ballots that were voted for Small's opponents and submitting ballots as votes for Small from people who never received them. This conduct is a violation of the fundamental right to vote and the right of the electorate to have their vote counted."
The indictment alleges that Small and the others conspired to commit election fraud through the following schemes, among others:They allegedly solicited applications for messenger absentee ballots from individuals not qualified to receive them and had the voters not fill in the name of the messenger, so they could fraudulently designate themselves as the authorized messengers or bearers.
They allegedly obtained messenger ballots from the Atlantic County clerk and submitted them to the Board of Elections as votes on behalf of voters who, in fact, never received or voted the ballots or, in some cases, were given only the security envelope for the ballot and were told to sign it. Those people were not given the opportunity to vote in most instances.
They accused people allegedly picked up sealed absentee ballots from voters, unsealed them and, if they were votes for mayoral candidates other than Small, destroyed them, thereby disenfranchising those voters. If they were votes for Small, they allegedly resealed them and submitted them as votes.
They allegedly illegally instructed voters to fill in messenger ballots as votes for Small.
They allegedly submitted voter registration applications and messenger ballot applications on behalf of individuals who were not residents of Atlantic City, falsely representing they were.
They allegedly forged the signatures of voters on messenger ballots.
And they allegedly fraudulently delivered messenger ballot applications and messenger ballots to voters simultaneously and instructed the voters to fill out both during the visit.
Small and the indicted members of his campaign staff allegedly sought to maximize the number of absentee ballots messengered by the campaign by enlisting operatives and campaign workers to engage in fraud and by paying campaign workers based on how many messenger ballots they collected. The workers allegedly were told to direct voters to vote for the Small ticket, or simply have the voters sign the ballots so the workers could fill them out as votes for the ticket.
The campaign allegedly held an "autograph party" at which messengers selected by Small or by other defendants would fill in their own names as designated messengers on absentee ballot applications where that information had been left blank by the voters.
"Our investigation into alleged fraud in the June 2009 Democratic primary in Atlantic City is ongoing," said Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni. "The State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice are pursuing all leads, and I urge any voter with information to contact our confidential tip line, 1-866-TIPS-4CJ. The assistance and cooperation of voters is crucial in these investigations."
Besides Small, the indictment charges the following 13 people:
Luquay Zahir, also known as Luqua McNair, 34, of Atlantic City;
David Callaway, 46, of Pleasantville;
Floyd Tally, also known as Floyd Harrell, 39, of Atlantic City;
Mark Crumble, also known as Johnny Crumbles, 48, of Atlantic City;
Tracy PiJuan, 37, of Atlantic City;
Michele Griffin, 30, of Atlantic City;
Toni Dixon, 52, of Atlantic City;
Demaris Jones, 27, of Atlantic City;
Ramona Stephens, 48, of Atlantic City;
Ernest Storr, 43, of Linwood;
Thomas Quirk, 57, of Ventnor;
Dameka Cross, 34, of Smithville, and
Ronald Harris, 23, of Atlantic City.
Callaway, Zahir, Tally, Griffin and Dixon were previously charged in connection with the alleged illegal campaign activities.
Small, Pijuan, Storr and Quirk are the accused named in the count of the indictment charging hindering apprehension or prosecution. They allegedly provided false information to investigators.
The indictment was handed up to state Superior Court Judge Maria Marinari Sypek in Trenton, who assigned the case to Atlantic County, where the defendants will be ordered to appear in court at a later date to answer the charges.
Second-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison and a $150,000 fine, while third-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a $15,000 fine. Fourth-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine.
The case was presented to the state grand jury by Deputy Attorney General Anthony Picione, the deputy chief of the Corruption Bureau, and Deputy Attorney General Robert Czepiel Jr. The investigation was led for the State Police Lt. John Redkoles, Det. Sgt. 1st Class Karl E. Ulbrich, Det. Sgt. David A. Smith, Det. Sgt. John Pizzuro, Det. Scott Orman, Det. Anthony Carugno, Det.James Sansone, Det. David Caracciolo and Det. John Scalabrini.
With official corruption a major issue in the gubernatorial campaign, Governor Jon Corzine issued a statement on Small's indictment.
"I applaud Attorney General Milgram for continuing to advance my administration's effort to crack down on corruption at any level of government,'' the governor stated. The attorney general has pursued more than 200 corruption cases and this case represents again that there are those who think public service is about serving their own interests rather than the interests of the people they represent. We can't tolerate public officials who would attempt to defraud our electoral system, and today's action shows it won't be tolerated."
— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM