Election fraud charges against a former U.S. representative have been dropped after his guilty pleas to bribery and manipulation of voting data.
An election judge in Philadelphia has been bribed by former Rep. Michael Myers (D-Pa.), 79, to fraudulently increase the number of votes cast for federal and state candidates.
Democratic candidates Myers and Demuro backed each other. Demuro would get a part of the money Myers received from the candidates, either in cash or check.
Fraudulent votes would be tacked on for Myers’ clients by the judge overseeing the 39th Ward, 36th Division election in South Philadelphia.
According to a statement by the Department of Justice, “At Myers’s direction, Demuro would add these fraudulent votes to the totals during Election Day, and then would later falsely certify that the voting machine results were accurate,”
According to officials, the fraud occurred throughout the 2014 and 2018 elections.
He also confessed to scheming with Philadelphia election judge Marie Beren to conduct fraud in the 39th Ward, 2nd Division. He admitted to Beren that he instructed him to vote for candidates he favored, even those who had employed Myers.
Prosecutors said in 2020 that Demuro had pled guilty to charges of conspiring to deprive persons of their civil rights and utilizing interstate facilities to facilitate bribes. Demuro’s sentencing was originally scheduled for June 30, 2020, but it has been continually postponed. June 14 is the current date for the event.
In 2021, Beren, a Democrat, pled guilty to a felony charge. She pled guilty to a variety of counts, but the specifics of those charges were kept under wraps. Originally scheduled to be sentenced on February 15, the hearing was rescheduled until August 16 due to unforeseen circumstances.
Democracy is built on the foundation of voting. An election official’s credibility may be shattered by even one illicit vote cast or a single vote tampering incident, according to a US Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. According to a statement by Biden appointee, Jennifer Williams. “Democracy is not a commodity that can be bought or sold.” Those of you who work in or around polling locations as political consultants, election officials, or otherwise, I implore you to conduct your work with integrity and honesty. As a result, the American people may expect the federal government to uphold this standard.
According to Jacqueline Maguire, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia Division, “One thing you can say about Ozzie Myers: his values have long been out of whack.” At one point in his political career, his political ambitions were more important to him than those of his elected federal post. He put his customers’ money and his own desires ahead of the integrity of several elections and the will of Philadelphia voters this time around. In order to maintain the integrity of our democratic system, the FBI places a high emphasis on ensuring that our elections are free and fair.”
After being caught on camera accepting a bribe from undercover FBI agents, Myers was forced to resign from Congress in 1980. He had been elected to the body in late 1976. Forgery and conspiracy allegations resulted in a lengthy jail term for him.
On September 27th, Myers will be sentenced. Up to 60 years in jail, 3 years of supervised probation, and a fine of up to $1.25 million are all possible punishments for his crimes.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on The Epoch Times.
