Jason Schofield, age 43, of Troy, New York, pled guilty on Wednesday to unlawfully using the names and dates of birth of voters to fraudulently apply for absentee ballots for elections held in Rensselaer County in 2021, according to a press release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.
Schofield is a former Republican county elections commissioner, Fox News noted.
“Schofield was an Elections Commissioner at the Rensselaer County Board of Elections (“RCBOE”) until late last month, when he resigned in anticipation of today’s guilty plea,” the attorney’s office press release states. “In pleading guilty to a 12-count indictment, Schofield admitted that in 2021, he unlawfully possessed and used the names and dates of birth of voters in connection with 12 absentee ballot applications he electronically submitted in the voters’ names to the New York State Voter Absentee Ballot Application Request Portal.”
Schofield, whose case was investigated by the FBI, admitted that he falsely certified that he was the voter requesting the ballot for each application.
“He also admitted that he took personal possession of 9 of these ballots, while knowing and intending that RCBOE records would falsely reflect that the ballots had been mailed to the voters,” per the release.
U.S. District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino is scheduled to sentence Schofield on May 12, 2023.
Schofield, who is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett, faces up to 5 years in prison for each count.
He’s also facing a “fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 3 years.”
Schofield’s plea agreement required that he immediately resign from the RCBOE, the release notes.
