The Brief

A man in Florida has been sentenced for election fraud in Michigan.

He was convicted of defrauding gubernatorial candidates James Craig, Perry Johnson, Michael Markey, and Ryan Kelley in the 2022 election.

Co-defendant Wilmoth was sentenced to 4 to 20 years’ incarceration earlier this month.

LANSING, Mich. (FOX 2) – A Florida man has been sentenced to 2–20 years in prison after being convicted of election fraud in Michigan.

Big picture view

Attorney General Dana Nessel announced that Willie Reed of Pompano Beach, Florida was sentenced to 24 months to 240 months’ after being convicted by a Macomb County jury of defrauding gubernatorial candidates James Craig, Perry Johnson, Michael Markey, and Ryan Kelley in the 2022 election.

Reed was ordered to pay $333,817 in restitution to the victims.

Nessel said in 2022, the candidates contracted with businesses owned and operated by Reed and Shawn Wilmoth, a co-defendant, for the fulfillment of their nomination signature requirements to appear on the primary ballots.

Reed charged the campaigns around $350,000 for valid signature collection, then delivered tens of thousands of forged signatures on nomination petitions to the campaigns.

Co-defendant Wilmoth was sentenced to 4 to 20 years’ incarceration earlier this month.

By the numbers

Reed was found guilty of:

One count of Conducting a Criminal Enterprise;

Two counts of False Pretenses, $100,000 or more;

One count of False Pretenses, $50,000 to $100,000;

Three counts of Use of a Computer to Commit a Crime, $20,000 or more;

One count of Use of a Computer to Commit a Crime, $1,000 to $20,000;

One count of Larceny by Conversion, $1,000 to $20,000; and

Three counts of Election Law Forgery

The Michigan Bureau of Elections detected the forgeries, and the Department of State referred the matter to the Department of Attorney General for investigation in June 2022.

“The actions of the defendants deliberately undermined our electoral process and denied voters their choices in our primary,” said Nessel. “I hope this outcome serves as a deterrent to others who attempt to subvert our system.”

Nessel charged Reed and Wilmoth in 2023.