Michigan Atty Gen Bill Schuette said at a news conference in Detroit that the four former staffers “were engaged in a blatant attempt to commit forgery and election fraud.” The Michigan Attorney General said, referring to the accused, “They copied petitions, submitted petitions falsely signed by circulators and did cut-and-paste jobs that would make an elementary art teacher cringe.”
The exposure of such activities left Kerry Bentivolio, a reindeer farmer with no elected experience, as the only Republican candidate in the primary. Bentivolio is supported by the Tea Party and faces Democrat Dr. Syed Tan in Michigan's 11th Congressional District in November.
The four staffers accused of wrongdoings include former district director Paul Seewald and his deputy, Don Yowchuang. Schuette said fake petitions may have been filed in at least another election cycle while McCotter was “asleep at the switch.”
Though McCotter, the principal beneficiary of the wrongdoings, was not charged, his aides, are facing serious charges. Seewald, was charged with one count of felony for conspiring with Yowchuang, who was Seewald's deputy, and Seewald was also charged with nine misdemeanor counts for signing petitions he did not circulate.
As usual, the man at the bottom bore the brunt and Yowchuang, faces 17 charges including 10 felony counts of election law forgery, a felony conspiracy count and six misdemeanors. He was also accused of duplicating current petitions and electronically pasting signatures from past election cycles.
The misdemeanor charges carry 93 days in prison, each, and the felony charges carry maximum penalties of five years in prison.
