Last Updated on June 8, 2022
A former Democrat congressman pleaded guilty to a slew of election fraud charges in connection with a ballot stuffing scheme.
Former U.S. Rep. Michael “Ozzie” Myers plead guilty to “conspiracy to deprive voters of civil rights, bribery, obstruction of justice, falsification of voting records, and conspiring to illegally vote in a federal election.”
Prosecutors claim the 79-year-old Myers was the ringleader of a ballot box stuffing scam that helped Democrat candidates in Pennsylvania throughout the 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 elections.
Myers has a history of election fraud activity. Myers admitted in court to colluding with the Judge of Elections for the 39th Ward, 36th Division in South Philadelphia, Domenick J. Demuro, in a fraudulent scheme over several years,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.
In May of 2020, Demuro pleaded guilty to the charge, admitting he was bribed to “illegally add votes for certain candidates of their mutual political party in primary elections.”
According to the DOJ, Demuro received as much as $5,000 per election in return for his election fraud scheme. Demuro would not only add fake votes to election counts but would also certify the voting machine’s results accuracy.
Demuro is not the only judge that whom Myers admitted to conspiring with. South Philidelphia election judge Marie Beren conspired with Myers to steal elections and plead guilty to election fraud charges in October 2021.
Myers’ congressional term was short-lived, only lasting from 1976 to 1980.
In 1980, undercover FBI agents posing as Arab sheiks caught Myers accepting bribes in the Abscam sting investigation. He was expelled from Congress and served one year of his three-year sentence.
U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams said, “voting is the cornerstone of our democracy” following Myers’ guilty plea. “If even one vote has been illegally cast or if the integrity of just one election official is compromised, it diminishes faith in process. Votes are not things to be purchased and democracy is not for sale. If you are a political consultant, election official, or work with the polling places in any way, I urge you to do your job honestly and faithfully. That is what the public deserves and what the federal government will enforce.”
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