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I’m a-get them Duke boys!
The former mayor of Appalachia, Virginia (a little town with less than 2,000 residents) is going to the clink. Ben Cooper recently pled guilty to over 200 felony counts of voter fraud. This stems from a 2004 city council election, which Cooper helped rig so that he and a buddy could get elected. It worked, and the city council later elected Cooper as the Mayor (he stepped down this past March, after he was indicted for this whole shebang).
Seven others also pled guilty to helping Cooper with this scam, and seven more still have charges pending.
As for the scam itself, it was one part forgery (they forged absentee ballots) and one part bribery (they offered folks all sorts of goodies, like free smokes, booze, prescription drugs and snacks). Cooper now faces a fine of over $80,000 and up to almost 2 years in the clink (which may not be so bad for him if he kept a stash of those cigarettes he was giving away).
The prosecutor described Cooper “as a mastermind in the mold of Boss Hogg.” Cooper’s attorney, meanwhile, says the “he feels terrible about the whole incident.” One assumes that she finished the quote in her head: “…about the whole incident, particularly the whole getting caught part of it.”
And as for that “getting caught part of it,” that’s the best - Cooper was brought down by a pork rind! This whole thing was exposed by a voter who complained after being offered pork rinds. And actually, if that was the best “snack” Cooper could come up with, there’s no question that he deserves to be thrown into the Big House.
