ACORN Press Release (Guilty Plea)

April 2, 2008
For Immediate Release

EIGHT ACORN VOTER REGISTRATION WORKERS PLEAD GUILTY TO FEDERAL ELECTION FRAUD CHARGES

St. Louis, MO: Eight voter registration workers, employed by The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), have entered guilty pleas on election fraud charges in connection with the November 2006 general election, United States Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway announced today.

The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (“ACORN”) is a not-for-profit organization, and during 2006 maintained and operated an office at 4304 Manchester Avenue in the City of St. Louis, in part to conduct a voter registration drive for the November 7, 2006, general election.

Project Vote is a not-for-profit organization that works with ACORN to register voters for federal and local elections. Project Vote funded ACORN in the 2006 voter registration drive.

“Free and fair elections are the bedrock that our nation and our society were founded upon. This type of criminal activity undermines the public’s confidence in government, and should not be tolerated by citizens of the community,” said Hanaway. “We intend to investigate vigorously, and prosecute fully, any allegations of fraud in our election system.”

ACORN and Project Vote recruited and employed workers to obtain voter registrations in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County during 2006. The workers were trained and instructed by ACORN and Project Vote on how to obtain voter registrations and how to prepare voter registration applications, which included training and instruction that the actual voter must sign the voter application and that a forged signature is a violation of the law.

From July through October 2006, these eight defendants were employed by ACORN as voter registration workers to obtain voter registrations in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County. They have all pled guilty to various counts of election fraud for submitting false voter registration applications through ACORN to the St. Louis City and St. Louis County Board of Election Commissions falsely stating addresses, names and other information of the voters being registered, and which contained forged signatures of the purported applicants, in violation of Title 42, United States Code, sections 1973i(c) and 1973 gg-10, election fraud. The defendants are:

BRIAN BLAND, St. Louis, pled guilty Monday, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26, 2008
BOBBIE JEAN CHEEKS, a/k/a Dorothy Jones & Bobbie Tobert, St. Louis, pled yesterday, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26, 2008
CORTEZ COWAN, St. Louis, pled today, and is scheduled to be sentence on June 25, 2008
GOLDEN GIBSON, St. Louis, pled Monday, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26, 2008
RADONNA MARIE SMITH, St. Louis, pled today, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25, 2008
ANTHONY M. RELIFORD, St. Louis, pled last week, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 19, 2008
KENNETH DEMOND WILLIAMS, St. Louis, pled and was sentenced to 15 months prison on March 13
TYAIRA L. WILLIAMS, a/k/a Tootsie Roll, St. Louis, pled March 25 and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 19, 2008

Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and/or fines up to either $10,000 or $250,000, depending on the charge.

In discussions with the United States Attorney’s Office, ACORN has agreed to implement a plan to improve voter registration and quality control procedures. ACORN is planning to strengthen the system it has to monitor and address performance problems, and has agreed to meet with prosecutors to discuss how best to report possible illegal activity. ACORN has agreed that comprehensive training will be required of all quality control and management staff. ACORN has agreed to the creation of a General Counsel position to monitor ACORN programs, and who will communicate with local election officials to address problems. Further, ACORN has agreed to assign a 13-year ACORN veteran and Missouri Head Organizer to St. Louis full-time to personally oversee any future voter registration drives.

Hanaway acknowledged the assistance of the St. Louis City and St. Louis County Election Boards and commended the work performed on the case by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service and Assistant United States Attorney Hal Goldsmith, who is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI CATHERINE L. HANAWAY United States Attorney	NEWS RELEASE
For further information: Call Public Affairs Officer Jan Diltz at (314) 539-7719
April 2, 2008 For Immediate Release EIGHT ACORN VOTER REGISTRATION WORKERS PLEAD GUILTY TO FEDERAL ELECTION FRAUD CHARGES St. Louis, MO: Eight voter registration workers, employed by The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), have entered guilty pleas on election fraud charges in connection with the November 2006 general election, United States Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway announced today. The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (“ACORN”) is a not-for-profit organization, and during 2006 maintained and operated an office at 4304 Manchester Avenue in the City of St. Louis, in part to conduct a voter registration drive for the November 7, 2006, general election. Project Vote is a not-for-profit organization that works with ACORN to register voters for federal and local elections. Project Vote funded ACORN in the 2006 voter registration drive. “Free and fair elections are the bedrock that our nation and our society were founded upon. This type of criminal activity undermines the public’s confidence in government, and should not be tolerated by citizens of the community,” said Hanaway. “We intend to investigate vigorously, and prosecute fully, any allegations of fraud in our election system.” ACORN and Project Vote recruited and employed workers to obtain voter registrations in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County during 2006. The workers were trained and instructed by ACORN and Project Vote on how to obtain voter registrations and how to prepare voter registration applications, which included training and instruction that the actual voter must sign the voter application and that a forged signature is a violation of the law. From July through October 2006, these eight defendants were employed by ACORN as voter registration workers to obtain voter registrations in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County. They have all pled guilty to various counts of election fraud for submitting false voter registration applications through ACORN to the St. Louis City and St. Louis County Board of Election Commissions falsely stating addresses, names and other information of the voters being registered, and which contained forged signatures of the purported applicants, in violation of Title 42, United States Code, sections 1973i(c) and 1973 gg-10, election fraud. The defendants are: BRIAN BLAND, St. Louis, pled guilty Monday, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26, 2008 BOBBIE JEAN CHEEKS, a/k/a Dorothy Jones & Bobbie Tobert, St. Louis, pled yesterday, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26, 2008 CORTEZ COWAN, St. Louis, pled today, and is scheduled to be sentence on June 25, 2008 GOLDEN GIBSON, St. Louis, pled Monday, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26, 2008 RADONNA MARIE SMITH, St. Louis, pled today, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 25, 2008 ANTHONY M. RELIFORD, St. Louis, pled last week, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 19, 2008 KENNETH DEMOND WILLIAMS, St. Louis, pled and was sentenced to 15 months prison on March 13 TYAIRA L. WILLIAMS, a/k/a Tootsie Roll, St. Louis, pled March 25 and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 19, 2008 Each defendant faces a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and/or fines up to either $10,000 or $250,000, depending on the charge. In discussions with the United States Attorney’s Office, ACORN has agreed to implement a plan to improve voter registration and quality control procedures. ACORN is planning to strengthen the system it has to monitor and address performance problems, and has agreed to meet with prosecutors to discuss how best to report possible illegal activity. ACORN has agreed that comprehensive training will be required of all quality control and management staff. ACORN has agreed to the creation of a General Counsel position to monitor ACORN programs, and who will communicate with local election officials to address problems. Further, ACORN has agreed to assign a 13-year ACORN veteran and Missouri Head Organizer to St. Louis full-time to personally oversee any future voter registration drives. Hanaway acknowledged the assistance of the St. Louis City and St. Louis County Election Boards and commended the work performed on the case by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service and Assistant United States Attorney Hal Goldsmith, who is handling the case for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.