Cahokia IL ( KPLR )—
Two Cahokia Village trustees and two village employees plead not guilty Wednesday to multiple voter fraud charges levied by the St. Clair County State's Attorney.A total of 191 separate charges, some felonies and others election code violations were issued last week. Trustee Kyle Johnson faces 35 counts. Trustee Trevon Tompkin is accused of 33 violations. Employee William Brown faces 41 counts of vote fraud and employee Kevin Wiggins is charged with 82 counts. The four, if convicted face prison time or probation as well as the loss of their elected office or village job.
Cahokia police chief Richard Watson led the investigation into the April 2009 municipal election. He described the evidence as "overwhelming." Multiple complaints from voters launched the effort. Watson explained, "there was many people that showed up at the polls that date that said they were supposed to have a ballot waiting for them to vote, but they showed up and they had already voted."
Former Centreville Mayor Frankie Seaberry ran for Centreville Township supervisor on the April ballot and lost. She came to the county court house in Belleville to watch the court proceeding. "It's obvious the election was stolen from us," she said.
Seaberry added, "If you lose, you lose, but lose the right way. Win the right way. But don't steal it, because it's not expressing the will of the people."
