A former police chief in Amite City and a current Amite City Councilmember plead guilty Wednesday in New Orleans to criminally violating federal election laws as part of a conspiracy to buy or offer to buy votes in a federal election, officials stated.
According to court documents, Jerry Trabona, 72, the former Chief of Police in Amite City, and Kristian “Kris” Hart, 49, a current Amite City Councilmember, plead guilty to conspiring to pay and offering to pay voters residing in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, for voting in the 2016 open primary election and the 2016 open general election.
Trabona and Hart admitted that they agreed with each other and others to pay or offer to pay voters during contests in which the defendants were candidates.
In addition to the conspiracy with Trabona, Hart pleaded guilty to three counts of paying and offering to pay voters during both the 2016 and 2020 elections.
In both elections, Hart was running for the seat he currently holds on the Amite City Council.
“We must have fair elections, free from the taint of corruption, to ensure a fully functional government,” stated U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans for the Eastern District of Louisiana. “Safeguarding the voting process is of paramount importance to our office and the Department of Justice.”
(December 2021)
“Providing a voter with money or something of value in exchange for voting is a federal crime,” said Special Agent in Charge Douglas A. Williams, Jr. of the FBI New Orleans Field Office. “Today’s guilty pleas sends a clear message that individuals like former Amite Chief of Police Jerry Trabona and current Amite City Councilmember Kris Hart, who engaged in voter fraud, will be held accountable.”
The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 1 and face up to five years in prison on each count.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s New Orleans Field Office.
Trial Attorneys Michael N. Lang and Rosaleen T. O’Gara of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney M. Irene González for the Eastern District of Louisiana are prosecuting the case.