Group Accused Of Bribing Homeless People In Voter Fraud Scheme

LOS ANGELES, CA — Los Angeles prosecutors are set to charge nine people in an alleged scheme to bribe homeless people with money and cigarettes for fraudulent ballot signatures and voter registration forms.

According to prosecutors, the voter fraud scheme involved hundreds of false signatures on state ballot petitions and voter registration forms in the 2016 and 2018 election cycles. The suspects allegedly targeted people living in LA's skid row. Authorities did not say which ballot measures were involved in the scheme. The charges include voter fraud, circulating a petition with false names, use of false names on a petition and registering a fictitious person, according to the District Attorney's Office.

Kirkland Kauzava Washington, 38, Richard Howard, 62, Rose Makeda Sweeney, 42, Christopher Joseph Williams, 59, and Norman Hall, 61, are scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.

Also charged in the alleged voter fraud scheme are Harold Bennett, 53, Louis Thomas Wise, 36, Jakara Fati Mardis, 35, and Nickey Demelvin Huntley, 44.

According to prosecutors, the defendants solicited forged signatures on state ballot petitions and voter registration forms by offering homeless people $1 and/or cigarettes for their participation.

Washington, Bennett and Wise are each charged with eight counts and could face up to six years and four months in state prison if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney's Office.

The other five defendants are charged with four counts each and would face a maximum of four years and eight months behind bars if convicted.

The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI's Los Angeles field office.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report. Photo: Shutterstock