Lawyer For Minister Accused Of Election Misgivings In Middletown Proclaims Rev's Innocence

MIDDLETOWN, CT — The lawyer for a minister accused of election misdeeds in Middletown said he is innocent.

A statement was released Thursday by John Kelley, who is representing the Rev. Robert Hoggard in the case.

It read, "I am confident that upon a full and comprehensive investigation of all the facts surrounding these charges, my client, Reverend Robert Hoggard, will be completely vindicated. Charges like these are the product of the degenerative impact of the passage of time on people's recollections of a momentary encounter. A casual and quick signature on a petition is going to be very hard for most of us to recall accurately and completely years later. The evidence will show that Robert is an innocent man."

Chief State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin Wednesday announced that Hoggard has been arrested and charged in connection with submitting numerous forged signatures on petitions to the Democratic Registrar of Voters in Middletown in an effort to have his name included on the August 2024 ballot for Democratic State Representative in the 33rd General Assembly District.

He was eventually on the ballot as a third-party candidate, but lost.

Inspectors from the Statewide Prosecution Bureau in the Office of the Chief State's Attorney on June 11 charged Hoggard, 33, of Middletown, with 14 counts of forgery in the second degree, along with six counts of perjury, Griffin said.

In January 2025, the State Elections Enforcement Commission referred the matter to the Division of Criminal Justice, charging that that Hoggard submitted nominating petition pages to the Middletown Registrar of Voters in June 2024 that contained forged signatures and "falsified circulator certifications."

An investigation showed that in 2024, Griffin sought to run for office representing the 33rd District as a Democrat, but the Democratic Party did not choose him as its endorsed candidate, Griffin said.

Connecticut law allows non-endorsed candidates to petition their way onto a ballot and in Hoggard's case, he needed to collect signatures from Democratic voters who live in the 33rd District, Griffin said. Prior to submission of the petition forms to the Democratic Registrar of Voters, he was, by law, required to sign before a notary public attesting to the accuracy of the petition's contents and that each signature on the petition was signed in his presence, Griffin said.

Officials reviewing the petitions later received complaints from registered voters stating that they did not sign the petition, Griffin said.

The Statewide Prosecution Bureau obtained a warrant for Hoggard’s arrest after conducting a criminal investigation into SEEC’s referral.

Hoggard was released on a promise to appear in Superior Court in Middletown.