A former Philadelphia congressman, who was previously convicted in connection with the FBI’s Abscam sting operation, has been charged with bribing an election official to illegally add votes for certain candidates in primary elections, the Justice Department announced.
Michael “Ozzie” Myers, who was working as a campaign consultant, is accused of paying an elections judge to add fraudulent votes on behalf of specific candidates in the 2014, 2015, and 2016 primaries—a process known as “ringing up” votes. The candidates, who, like Myers, are Democrats, were backed by Myers for a variety of reasons, including that the candidates’ campaigns had hired Myers to represent them, prosecutors allege.
