{"id":50429,"date":"2022-07-21T12:37:34","date_gmt":"2022-07-21T19:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=50429"},"modified":"2022-07-21T12:42:49","modified_gmt":"2022-07-21T19:42:49","slug":"former-louisiana-police-chief-and-city-councilmember-guilty-in-vote-buying-conspiracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=50429","title":{"rendered":"Former Louisiana Police Chief and City Councilmember Guilty in Vote-Buying Conspiracy"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"field field--name-field-pr-body field--type-text-long field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-50345 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/qtq80-NOjW5d-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"410\" height=\"273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/qtq80-NOjW5d-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/qtq80-NOjW5d-1024x683.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/qtq80-NOjW5d-768x512.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/qtq80-NOjW5d-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/qtq80-NOjW5d-2048x1365.jpeg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 410px) 100vw, 410px\" \/>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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">According to court documents, Jerry Trabona, 72, the former Chief of Police in Amite City, and Kristian \u201cKris\u201d 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. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-48994 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/download-21.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"275\" height=\"183\" \/>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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">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. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">In both elections, Hart was running for the seat he currently holds on the Amite City Council.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">\u201cWe must have fair elections, free from the taint of corruption, to ensure a fully functional government,\u201d stated U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans for the Eastern District of Louisiana. \u201cSafeguarding the voting process is of paramount importance to our office and the Department of Justice.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mgnli_k8Mtw\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>(December 2021)<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">\u201cProviding a voter with money or something of value in exchange for voting is a federal crime,\u201d said Special Agent in Charge Douglas A. Williams, Jr. of the FBI New Orleans Field Office. \u201cToday\u2019s 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.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 1 and face up to five years in prison on each count. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">The case was investigated by the FBI\u2019s New Orleans Field Office.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px;\">Trial Attorneys Michael N. Lang and Rosaleen T. O\u2019Gara of the Criminal Division\u2019s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney M. Irene Gonz\u00e1lez for the Eastern District of Louisiana are prosecuting the case.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3255],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-federal-court"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Former Louisiana Police Chief and City Councilmember Guilty in Vote-Buying Conspiracy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A former 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