Thanks Cal Skinner!
Free registration to the Kansas City Star may be required. This is the latest news on this vastly underreported story.
A federal judge has upheld guilty verdicts for the former chairman of the East St. Louis Democratic Central Committee and four others convicted of a vote-buying scheme.
U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy on Monday denied motions for acquittals and new trials for former party head Charles Powell Jr.; precinct committee members Jesse Lewis, Sheila Thomas and Kelvin Ellis; and City Hall worker Yvette Johnson. All were convicted June 29.
Their attorneys had argued that statements made by two prosecution witnesses were either perjured or so critically defective that they deserved to be stricken.
During the trial, prosecutors relied on secretly recorded audiotapes in which they said those accused could be heard talking about paying $5 per vote in the Nov. 2 election.
Shrewd and admirable negotiating skills by the East St. Louis Democrats brought the price per vote up to $10.
Somehow, Karl Rove will be blamed for this, I'm sure.
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