A former president and Atlantic city council member already serving time for bribery has been arrested and charged in connection with a mail-in voting fraud scheme.
Last week, Craig Carraway, a 64-year-old described as a “political operative” and former member of the Atlantic City Council, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew J. Scahill in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.according to press release Callaway was indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey on one count of “fraudsters depriving, defrauding, and attempting to deprive and defraud the residents of the State of New Jersey a fair and impartial election process.” procuring, mailing, and counting ballots; ”
Lost candidates in the Atlantic City area have long accused Caraway of running a voter fraud scheme on behalf of his opponents. However, this latest charge against Callaway pertains only to his alleged actions to rig the November 2022 election.
That fall, Callaway began hiring people to serve as “authorized messengers” for people who wanted to vote by mail, according to a press release. These messengers cost either $30 or $50 and from Callaway he receives one to four mail-in ballot applications, signs and submits them to the county clerk’s office on behalf of voters in his area, and sends them to the designated mail-in ballot. The paper is said to have been recovered.
However, rather than returning those ballots to voters as required by law, Messenger instead gave them to Callaway and had him fill them out as he wished, the press release claimed.
The allegedly victimized voters were equally enlightened and clearly had no intention of voting. If approached by law enforcement, There are believed to be at least four victims. He said he did not vote in person or by mail in the 2022 general election. They also claimed they did not authorize Messenger to collect ballots on their behalf.
“Holding free and fair elections is a fundamental principle of our democracy,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Selinger said in a statement. “As alleged in the complaint, the defendants attempted to deprive New Jersey residents of a fair election by fraudulently obtaining and mailing ballots. Today’s charges seek to undermine the electoral process. This reflects our office’s commitment to holding those responsible to account.”
It is unclear whether Caraway entered a plea at last week’s hearing. If found guilty, he could face up to five years in prison and a large fine.
Caraway’s attorney, Megan Davis, was unavailable for comment. AP Callaway did not respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Caraway has previously been accused of engaging in voter fraud to help Democrats win the presidency, but he has also recently been accused of helping Republicans. 7 in 2020 South Jersey Democratic Party County Chairman It condemned Caraway’s “long and shameful history of interfering with honest and fair elections” and called on fellow Democrats to avoid soliciting his services.
Colin Bell, a former state senator and attorney for the Atlantic County Democratic Party, seems to agree. “We believe there was clear and convincing evidence that Mr. Callaway was involved in a voter fraud scheme,” Bell said last year. “We have to stop him from gaming the system,” he said.
Callaway has a decades-long track record of extortion and political corruption. Carraway, who was a City Council member in the early 2000s, was convicted of bribery and sentenced to 40 months in prison.
Before serving his sentence, he tried to force another lawmaker to resign by orchestrating a sex sting investigation. In 2006, he rented two motel rooms, set up recording devices, and hired a prostitute to perform sex acts on City Councilman Eugene Robinson, who was also a Baptist minister.
Carraway then blackmailed Robinson, threatening to release the tapes of his encounters with prostitutes if he did not resign. Robinson instead reported Carraway to authorities, and Carraway was sentenced to an additional three years in prison in connection with the incident. Carraway was released from prison in 2010, and Robinson has since died.
In the following video from June 2021, Caraway talks about his life as a convert to Islam.
H/T: Timcast IRL
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