Well, this is pretty wild. The guy in charge of elections in Rensselaer County, NY is the guy committing all that voter fraud that Republicans are so worried about. Apparently, he'll be resigning from his job where he collected $89,000 per year for his part-time services. Interestingly, the same day the federal charges came down he was appointed to a second, four-year term.
The news report above is Spectrum News' report on his arrest on Sept.13. If convicted, Schofield faced up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, hence the plea agreement.
Source: Times Union
TROY — Jason T. Schofield, Rensselaer County's Republican elections commissioner, is scheduled to plead guilty to federal criminal charges in January in connection with an ongoing investigation of voter fraud by the U.S. Department of Justice.
"He is scheduled for a change of plea and with his change of plea he will be resigning from his position," Danielle Neroni, Schofield's attorney, said Wednesday.
Schofield's scheduled guilty plea to felony charges on Jan. 11 would mark the second conviction in the federal investigation that's being spearheaded by the FBI and has focused on the harvesting of absentee ballots in elections over the past two years. A source close to the case said Schofield's plea agreement includes a pledge to cooperate in the wide-ranging investigation that has also examined the use of county resources and employees to gather absentee ballots.
The court docket in Schofield's federal criminal case indicates that the notice of his change-of-plea hearing was filed on Dec. 13. Later that day, the Rensselaer County Legislature voted 16-2 to appoint Schofield to a second, four-year term as elections commissioner along with Democrat Mary Sweeney, who is succeeding retiring Commissioner Ed McDonough. It's unclear whether GOP legislators who supported Schofield's re-appointment — at a time when he was facing federal criminal charges — were aware that he had agreed earlier that day to plead guilty to the charges and step down.
Schofield’s second four-year term in the job, which pays an annual salary of $89,041, is scheduled to begin Jan. 1.
