A former police chief in Louisiana and a former city councilmember were sentenced this week over their role in a scheme to buy votes during a federal election.
Jerry Trabona, 73, the former Chief of Police in Amite City, Louisiana and Kristian ‘Kris’ Hart, 50, a former Amite City councilmember, were both sentenced to a year in prison. Additionally, Trabona was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
The two defendants conspired to pay, or offer to pay, residents to vote certain ways during the 2016 Tangipahoa Parish primary and general elections – both races in which they were candidates, according to a 2021 federal indictment.
Trabona and Hart’s vote buying scheme included the solicitation and hiring of individuals responsible for identifying potential voters, the transportation of those voters to the polls, and payment and offer of payment to the voters for voting,” a news release from the Department of Justice stated.
A separate conspirator was also sentenced to jail for four months and two others are still awaiting sentencing, the news release added.
Trabona and Hart were initially charged by federal authorities with one count of conspiracy to commit vote buying and multiple counts of vote buying and aiding & abetting.
According to the indictment against them, the two defendants sought to hire vote buyers to identify potential voters willing to sell their ballots. They were then instructed to transport those voters to the polls and give them money – provided by Trabona and Hart – to vote for certain candidates, including Trabona and Hart.
In order to conceal what they were doing, Trabona had people soliciting votes sign contracts, the indictment also pointed out.
The contracts falsely stated they would not “make any overture of any kind to any voter or other person of financial award or benefit in exchange for a vote.”