An Ohio attorney who was a prolific donor to Donald Trump was convicted of election fraud this Tuesday, Cleveland.com reported.
The judge ordered James Saunders, 56, to be taken straight to jail after he was found guilty of two counts of illegal voting, which is a fourth-degree felony.
From Cleveland.com:
Santoli held that Saunders cast ballots in both Ohio and Florida in the 2020 presidential election and the 2022 general election. The judge noted that voting records from both states show Saunders also illegally voted twice in the 2014 and 2016 general elections. Prosecutors could not charge him for those votes because the statute of limitations had passed.
Santoli set a sentencing hearing for Aug. 28.Saunders faces any from probation to three years in prison.Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley said after the hearing that Saunders’ case is the only instance of a person actually voting twice in Cuyahoga County in several years.…Federal Elections Commission filings show Saunders made multiple small donations to Trump’s reelection campaign in both 2017 and 2020, as well as super-PACs supporting Trump’s candidacies. Saunders also made several reoccurring donations beginning in March 2020 to the National Republican Congressional Committee and WinRed, the GOP’s fundraising platform. The most recent donation was December 2021, according to records. All of the donations were under $100.
During his trial, Saunders claimed that he accidentally cast two ballots and did not knowingly commit a crime.
Read the full report at Cleveland.com.
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