TRENTON
- Attorney General Peter C. Harvey today
announced the indictment of a city councilman
on charges that he tampered with absentee
ballot applications and hindered or prevented
one citizen from voting in the June 7,
2005, primary election for mayor and city
council in Atlantic City. The charges
in the 11-count indictment were brought
by the Office of Government Integrity
in the Attorney General’s Office.
"The
integrity of the ballot is paramount to
our democracy, and we will prosecute those
individuals who attempt to tamper with
any citizen’s vote," said Attorney
General Harvey. "We held a voter
education forum in Atlantic City earlier
this year to inform voters how to better
protect their vote and to warn others
not to manipulate absentee ballots. Some,
apparently, did not get the message."
Tracy
M. Thompson, Acting Director of the Office
of Government Integrity (OGI), said that
a State Grand Jury indictment charged
Marty L. Small, 31, of Atlantic City,
with 10 counts of tampering with public
records, a third-degree crime, and one
count of hindering or preventing voting,
a fourth-degree crime. If convicted on
all charges, Small could face up to 51.5
years in jail and fines up to $160,000.
There is a presumption of non-incarceration
for third- and fourth-degree crimes. Also
if convicted, Small could forfeit his
public position on the city council and
his public employment with the Atlantic
City public schools.
According
to Thompson, the first 10 counts of the
Grand Jury’s indictment charge that
on or about June 1, 2005, Small falsely
filed with the Atlantic County Clerk’s
Office applications for absentee ballots
for 10 different individuals as their
"authorized messenger." According
to the indictment, the 10 persons did
not designate Small as an authorized messenger.
Registered voters must file for absentee
ballots in person themselves, or may designate
an authorized messenger to pick up the
ballot in their stead.
"We
are committed to ensuring that no one
in New Jersey is deprived of his or her
vote or in any way has his or her vote
misrepresented," said OGI Acting
Director Thompson.
The
11th count of the Grand Jury indictment
charges Small with hindering or preventing
a voter, who is a resident of Atlantic
City, from casting a legal vote in the
June 7, 2005, primary.
As
of July 2005, criminal law was amended
to upgrade the offense of hindering or
preventing a voter from casting a vote
to a third-degree crime, carrying a penalty
of three to five years in state prison.
At the time the indictment charges that
Small engaged in this alleged conduct,
this offense was a fourth-degree crime,
which carries a penalty of up to 18 months
in jail.
OGI
State Investigator Kim Husband coordinated
the investigation, assisted by State Investigator
Warren Monroe, and Special State Investigators
Marilyn Cichowski and Frank Gallagher.
Deputy Attorney General Ronald A. Epstein
presented the case to the State Grand
Jury.
The
indictment was handed-up to Mercer County
Superior Court Judge Charles A. Delehey.
The case has been assigned to Atlantic
County for trial. An indictment is merely
an accusation. The defendant is presumed
innocent unless or until proven guilty..
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