But they dropped more serious charges of conspiracy and forgery and both pleaded guilty to a single count of ballot abuse.Ī defense expert who researched election law cases in Arizona testified that no one with a clean record has ever been sentenced to jail or prison in the past 20 years. Prosecutors alleged in court papers that Fuentes ran a sophisticated operation using her status in Democratic politics in San Luis to persuade voters to let her gather and, in some cases, fill out their ballots. “That's the issue of public integrity here." “The question is, why does (Fuentes) feel the need to exert pressure over people in her community and control the flow of their ballot to the ballot box,” Lawson told the judge. He said that while Fuentes and Juarez were captured on video by a political rival outside a vote center examining four voted ballots, the question remains what they were doing.
“I think that in our community a lot of us look up to her,” retired police officer Luis Marquez said.Īssistant Attorney General Todd Lawson is seeking a year in prison for Fuentes, telling Nelson that the case is about the security of elections and the 2016 Arizona law barring so-called “ballot harvesting.” This is the first prosecution under that law, which was upheld by the U.S. Others who testified before Judge Roger Nelson included the county probation officer who recommended no jail time in her report, a Yuma County supervisor and former state senator who has known Fuentes for years, and a retired San Luis police officer who has known her since 1971 when both were growing up in the then-tiny border community and serves with her now on a local school board. Fuentes not being in the community would be a detriment to the community,” she added.
“I’ve never come across someone who gives back more to the community than Ms. “She puts me to shame, I can tell you that,” Castillo said. Sherri Castillo, a defense mitigation expert who interviewed Fuentes and others in the community, told the court Thursday that her community involvement and volunteer work are hard to adequately describe. Republicans have seized on the case as a sign of widespread voting fraud, but it is the only “ballot harvesting” case ever prosecuted under Arizona’s 2016 law banning the practice, and fewer than a dozen cases from the 2020 election have been filed in a state where more than 3.1 million votes were cast. She carried four ballots Fuentes gave her into a polling place and dropped them off. Her agreement calls for a sentence of probation. Her codefendant, Alma Juarez, pleaded guilty to the same charge, but it was designated as a misdemeanor after she agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. (Randy Hoeft/The Yuma Sun via AP) Randy Hoeft/AP Show More Show Lessįuentes is a school board member and former mayor in San Luis who has pleaded guilty to a felony violation of Arizona’s “ballot harvesting” law, which bars anyone but a person’s relative, housemate or caregiver from returning ballots for them. Trump, in a statement announcing his decision, called Masters a “great modern-day thinker” and slammed Masters' chief rival, Brnovich, for doing too little to promote Trump’s lies about the 2020 White House election he lost. Donald Trump on Thursday endorsed investor Blake Masters in the crowded Republican Senate primary in Arizona, siding with another acolyte of tech investor Peter Thiel after the former president's support helped “Hillbilly Elegy” author JD Vance secure the GOP nomination in Ohio. (Arizona Attorney General's Office via AP, File) Show More Show Less 2 of3 Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich speaks during his Thursday, Jvisit to the Yuma Sun in Yuma, Ariz. Authorities say Fuentes and Alma Juarez participated in "ballot harvesting," a practice once used by both political parties to boost turnout that was made illegal by a 2016 state law that barred anyone but a family member or caregiver from returning early ballots for another person. 1, 2022, because one of their lawyers had a death in the family. Two women from southwestern Arizona who pleaded guilty to illegally collecting voted early ballots in the 2020 primary election are seeking a delay in their scheduled sentencing in Yuma on Thursday, Sept. 1 of3 FILE - This undated photo released by the Arizona Attorney General's Office shows Guillermina Fuentes.
0 kommentar(er)
