Voter Fraud Report

Jerry Trabona, former Chief of Police in Amite City, was initially charged by federal authorities with one count of conspiracy to commit vote buying and three counts of vote buying and aiding & abetting after his involvement in a vote-buying scheme during 2016 Tangipahoa Parish primary and general elections. Trabona, who served as Chief of Police from 2005-2020, conspired with Kristian Hart, who served as an Amite City Councilmember since 2016, by soliciting individuals to buy votes for them and other candidates they supported in the Tangipahoa Parish 2016 Open Primary and General Elections. According to the indictment "Hart and Trabona provided individuals who were buying votes for them and individuals selling their votes with sample ballots and lists of candidate numbers for whom the voters should cast their votes." To conceal the purpose of these payments "Trabona had those individuals sign contracts falsely stating that 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.’" Hart and Trabona had the vote-buyers provide a list of the voter paid, and after receiving the list, would pay the vote-buyer up to $20 for each individual they had paid to vote. Trabona pleaded guilty to a one-count federal superseding indictment of conspiracy to commit vote buying. He is awaiting sentencing.