The midday crime was nitazenes. The evening crime was a ransomware sentence. This one is a petition table.
Central District of California, announced Sept. 10: James Brass, 47, of Victorville, arrested Thursday morning, initial appearance in Riverside. Co-defendants Courtney Price, 49, Jacksonville, Florida, and Jateisha Herron, 33, of Boron. All three: one count conspiracy to commit identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony. Brass and Price also: identity fraud on that same theory. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli: they used stolen identities of registered voters to manufacture signatures on ballot petitions.
Indictment, as described by prosecutors: February through August, Skid Row and other sites. A voter database from the Secretary of State. Names and addresses on scraps of paper handed to people who signed. Then declarations under penalty of perjury that the signatures were “genuine.” Brass’s Pinnacle Brass LLC. Paid about $41,600. The gatherers needed about 875,000 signatures for a proposed constitutional amendment and nearly 547,000 for a proposed statute. If convicted, five years per count. A judge would still have to sentence.
Essayli: part of a statewide federal election-fraud operation announced Sept. 5. Charges are accusations. A similar Skid Row case this year: Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong pleaded guilty in June to paying someone to register.
What this means for you
If you signed nothing on Skid Row, this is still how a petition can get a name that is not yours. If you needed a verdict, wait for a jury. If you needed last night’s Conti number, that was four years and a plea.
Bottom line: Three charged. $41,600. Stolen IDs. Not convictions.
GLHR NEWS explains the news. Not investment, tax, or trading advice. Do your own work before you act.
