Extra legal fees have been filed in opposition to Paterson Metropolis Council President Alex Mendez in reference to an alleged voter fraud scheme courting the Could 2020 election.
Mendez and his spouse face new fees within the 20-count superseding indictment together with makes an attempt to tamper with a witness to the alleged poll stuffing scheme.
Mendez has served on the council for practically 5 years – together with being re-elected in 2024 – since he was accused of stealing mail-in ballots with quite a few co-conspirators within the run-up to the 2020 election. The New Jersey State Lawyer Normal’s workplace alleged Mendez and a number of other co-conspirators stole mail-in ballots, falsified them, after which stuffed a whole bunch of them in a mailbox in Haledon to attempt to win the election.
In some circumstances, prosecutors mentioned ballots collected by Mendez’s marketing campaign aides had been opened, and if the votes weren’t for him, they had been destroyed and the vote was modified utilizing clean mail-in ballots stolen from neighborhood mailboxes.
Mendez and his spouse Yohanny Munoz-Mendez have denied wrongdoing and beforehand pleaded not responsible.
The 2020 election in New Jersey’s third-largest metropolis was performed through mail-in poll because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The people’s right to vote and to have their voices heard was subverted by what we allege to be an unlawful conspiracy … It was, as the grand jury alleged, fraud and theft,” mentioned Lawyer Normal Matthew Platkin.
Neither Mendez’s protection lawyer Paul Brickfield, nor Munoz-Mendez’s lawyer Genesis Peduto, returned requests for remark.
In all, 5 individuals have been charged within the alleged voter fraud scheme. The costs embrace election fraud, tampering with public data, forgery and the brand new cost of witness tampering. If convicted, the highest depend carries a sentence of as much as 5-10 years in jail.
William McCoy, who misplaced the 2020 election to Mendez by simply 9 votes amid the voter fraud controversy, voiced concern over it taking about 4 years for the legal case to maneuver ahead earlier than Decide Sohail Mohammed.
“This criminal enterprise has been allowed to defraud the residents of the City of Paterson for far too long,” McCoy mentioned. McCoy once more known as on Mendez to resign and for prosecutors to maneuver the case ahead.
“The democratic process and our rights must be protected and those who would subvert the will of the voters must be held accountable. Justice although delayed must not be denied,” McCoy mentioned.
A second Paterson councilman, Michael Jackson, was additionally charged in a separate voter-fraud associated case in Paterson’s 2020 election. Jackson has additionally pleaded not responsible.
Jackson’s case too has dragged on for years earlier than Decide Mohammed.
A court docket spokesperson for New Jersey Superior Courtroom Decide Mohammed declined to touch upon the explanations for the multi-year delays in each voter-fraud associated circumstances.
