Saturday, September 23, 2000
Former councilman admits to voter fraud
Fairfield's Saylor pleads guilty, faces 70 years
By Earnest Winston
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HAMILTON — Former Fairfield Councilman Jon V. Saylor pleaded guilty Friday to 58 felony counts of voter fraud, avoiding a trial that was set to start Monday.
As part of the plea deal, the Butler County Prosecutor's Office dismissed 10 other counts against Mr. Saylor.
Jon V. Saylor
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Mr. Saylor, who was elected last November, will be sentenced Nov. 14 by Butler County Common Pleas Judge Matthew Crehan. He faces more than 70 years in prison if the sentences run consecutively.
Wearing a charcoal-gray suit in court, the 27-year-old Mr. Saylor showed no emotion as he entered his guilty plea.
Mr. Saylor's attorney, Peter Swenty, declined to comment on the deal.
Cynthia McCloud, an acquaintance of Mr. Saylor's, also pleaded guilty Friday to two voter-fraud charges. A third charge was dismissed. Ms. McCloud, who faces up to two years in prison, will also be sentenced Nov. 14.
Mr. Saylor had been indicted on charges including false registration, inducing illegal voting, absent voter ballot violation, election falsification and interference with the conduct of an election. Elections officials have said it was one of the worst cases of election fraud in the state's history.
About a dozen questionable ballots were cast in the November election, which Mr. Saylor won by more than 100 votes.
Butler County Prosecutor Dan Gattermeyer said Mr. Saylor went to great lengths to cheat the system.
“This was a very serious matter, because the defendant Saylor was trying to steal an election,” Mr. Gattermeyer said. “It's just shocking that someone would completely poison the election process by fraudulently voting ballots for people who don't exist.”
Mr. Gattermeyer said Mr. Saylor's scheme involved obtaining absentee voter ballots in the names of people who either did not exist or who lived outside of Butler County, as well as falsifying his petition to place his name on the ballot.
“The Board of Elections of Butler County should be proud of the excellent work they did in discovering the scheme and in developing the massive extent of the fraud,” he said.
John Brown, a trustee for the Concerned Citizens of Fairfield, said Mr. Saylor's plea “has done the community a service in this particular case.” Mr. Brown's group collected 852 signatures for a recall election.
Mr. Saylor avoided a recall vote when he resigned in July.
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