PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (LifeSiteNews) — A former U.S. Congressman who previously served time for taking bribes from undercover FBI agents pleaded guilty to election fraud.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Monday that former U.S. Congressman Michael “Ozzie” Myers admitted to “conspiracy to deprive voters of civil rights, bribery, obstruction of justice, falsification of voting records, and conspiring to illegally vote in a federal election.”
Myers created “schemes to fraudulently stuff the ballot boxes for specific Democratic candidates in the 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 Pennsylvania elections.”
He previously served jail time for taking bribes from undercover FBI agents posing as Arab sheiks. The agents were bribing politicians under the guise of helping secure asylum and other political favors.
But this time Myers bribed other people on behalf of his Philadelphia political clients.
“Myers admitted to bribing [election judge Domenick Demuro] to illegally add votes for certain candidates of their mutual political party in primary elections,” the DOJ stated. Some candidates had paid Myers as a consultant and others were “favored [by Myers] for a variety of reasons.”
Demuro pleaded guilty in May 2020.
The DOJ stated that Demuro would get paid ” between $300 to $5,000 per election from Myers” to “add fraudulent votes on the voting machine… for Myers’ clients and preferred candidates.”
As an election judge, Demuro “would later falsely certify that the voting machine results were accurate.”
The former congressman also admitted to bribing another election judge, Marie Beren, who pleaded guilty to related charges.
“Myers admitted that he gave Beren directions to add votes to candidates supported by him,” the DOJ stated.
Berens would both instruct voters to choose Demuro’s candidates, some of whom had paid him as a consultant, and also would vote on behalf of other people.
“Myers acknowledged in court that on almost every Election Day, Myers transported Beren to the polling station to open the polls,” the DOJ stated. “During the drive to the polling station, Myers would advise Beren which candidates he was supporting so that Beren knew which candidates should be receiving fraudulent votes.”
“Inside the polling place and while the polls were open, Beren would advise actual in-person voters to support Myers’ candidates and also cast fraudulent votes in support of Myers’ preferred candidates on behalf of voters she knew would not or did not physically appear at the polls,” the DOJ stated.
Beren would then falsify the voting books to cover up the corruption.
The federal prosecutor overseeing the case said that even just one illegal vote diminishes trust in elections.
“Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy. If even one vote has been illegally cast or if the integrity of just one election official is compromised, it diminishes faith in process,” U.S. Attorney Jennifer Williams said in the news release. “Votes are not things to be purchased and democracy is not for sale. If you are a political consultant, election official, or work with the polling places in any way, I urge you to do your job honestly and faithfully.”
