(WWJ) – Three people have been charged with felonies for allegedly running a criminal enterprise to defraud several Michigan politicians’ election campaigns last year, including former Detroit Police Chief James Craig.
Attorney General Dana Nessel on Thursday announced the charges against Shawn Wilmoth, Jamie Wilmoth-Goodin and Willie Reed. They allegedly defrauded the 2022 gubernatorial campaigns of Craig, Perry Johnson, Donna Brandenburg, Michael Brown, and Michael Markey.
All of the candidates were disqualified from the race last summer when the Board of State Canvassers voted to rule the candidates did not reach the 15,000-signature threshold required to qualify for the primary ballot after the Michigan Bureau of Elections found more than three dozen ballot circulators turned in phony signatures.
Judicial candidates Tricia Dare, John Cahalan, and John Michael Malone were also defrauded.
Shawn Wilmoth and Willie Reed are additionally charged with theft from the gubernatorial campaign of Ryan Kelley.
All nine campaigns contracted – directly or through intermediary consultants – with businesses owned and operated by Shawn Wilmoth and Reed for the fulfillment of their nomination signature requirements to appear on the August 2022 primary ballots, according to Nessel’s office.
But state officials allege the three defendants operated a criminal enterprise that charged the campaigns over $700,000 for valid signature collection, then “knowingly delivered thousands of forged signatures on nomination petitions to eight of the campaigns.”
Seven of the candidates allegedly provided with fraudulent signatures were each disqualified from appearing on the ballot, while one campaign withdrew. The defendants allegedly provided the Kelley campaign with no signatures at all.
“The signatures delivered to these campaigns were obvious forgeries. The methods these defendants used to disguise their fraud were sophomoric and transparent, and easily detected,” Nessel said, per a press release. “But the crimes committed were serious criminal offenses that destroyed their clients campaign prospects and aimed to defraud the Bureau of Elections, all in service of a scheme to con these campaigns out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
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The defendants are charged as follows:
SHAWN WILMOTH, owner/operator of First Choice LLC and co-owner of Mack Douglas LLC
• 1 count, Conducting a Criminal Enterprise, a 20-year felony,
• 8 counts, Election Law Forgery, a 5-year felony,
• 3 counts, False Pretenses, $100,000 or more, a 20-year felony,
• 2 counts, False Pretenses, $50,000 or more, a 15-year felony,
• 3 counts, False Pretenses, $20,000 or more, a 15-year felony,
• 8 counts, Use of a Computer to Commit a Crime, $20,000 or more, a 10-year felony,
• 1 count, Use of a Computer to Commit a Crime, $1,000 or more, a 5-year felony, and
• 1 count, Larceny by Conversion, $1,000 or more, a 5-year felony.
WILLIE REED, owner/operator of Petitions Reed LLC and co-owner of Mack Douglas LLC
• 1 count, Conducting a Criminal Enterprise, a 20-year felony,
• 8 counts, Election Law Forgery, a 5-year felony,
• 3 counts, False Pretenses, $100,000 or more, a 20-year felony,
• 2 counts, False Pretenses, $50,000 or more, a 15-year felony,
• 3 counts, False Pretenses, $20,000 or more, a 15-year felony,
• 8 counts, Use of a Computer to Commit a Crime, $20,000 or more, a 10-year felony,
• 1 count, Use of a Computer to Commit a Crime, $1,000 or more, a 5-year felony, and
• 1 count, Larceny by Conversion, $1,000 or more, a 5-year felony.
JAMIE WILMOTH-GOODIN
• 1 count, Conducting a Criminal Enterprise, a 20-year felony,
• 8 counts, Election Law Forgery, a 5-year felony,
• 3 counts, False Pretenses, $100,000 or more, a 20-year felony,
• 2 counts, False Pretenses, $50,000 or more, a 15-year felony,
• 3 counts, False Pretenses, $20,000 or more, a 15-year felony, and
• 8 counts, Use of a Computer to Commit a Crime, $20,000 or more, a 10-year felony.
Nessel’s office says Reed is believed to be outside the state of Michigan. He has been charged but is not yet in custody, but efforts are underway to locate him.
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