Appalachia, Virginia, Ex-Mayor Pleads Guilty To Fixing Election by Rex Bowman

Reproduced under the Fair Use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial, nonprofit, and educational use.

| Chapter 5 — Lies, Damn Lies, and Mail In Elections |

| Next — Colorado, Denver, And Absentee Ballots: One City's Experience |

| Back— 'Ballot king' was paid by Orlando Mayor Dyer, other politicians to collect absentee ballots in Florida |

Other Appalachia ex-officials also plead guilty in the scheme

December 1, 2006 — A former mayor of Appalachia pled guilty yesterday to rigging a local election in a scheme exposed when one voter complained she was offered a bribe of pork rinds.

Culminating a scandal that has brought shame and ridicule upon the little town (pop. 1,839), Ben Cooper pled guilty in Wise County Circuit Court to 233 felony counts involving vote fraud during the May 2004 Town Council election. A judge also convicted Cooper of 10 additional counts to which he had pleaded no contest.

In the same courtroom, seven more people, including some of the town's most prominent residents, pled guilty to their roles in helping fix the election in Cooper's favor.

Cooper, who turned 64 yesterday, is to be sentenced January 9, 2007. He faces more than $85,000 in court fees and, under state sentencing guidelines, up to 21 months in jail.

Judge Tammy McElyea sentenced none of the seven others to jail, giving them probation instead and ordering them to pay restitution ranging from $500 to $2,500. Two were sentenced to 60 days of house arrest each.

Those who pled guilty included a former town police captain, a leader of the local rescue squad, a former Town Hall employee and two uncles of a former town councilman who's charged with taking part in the election-stealing effort.

Seven more, including the former town councilman, still face charges. Four of them have agreed to plead guilty, and a prosecutor said yesterday that charges against the other three could be dropped, bringing an end to what has been one of the biggest public-corruption scandals in Wise County history.

After Cooper pled guilty, Church took umbrage with a prosecutor's description of Cooper as a mastermind in the mold of Boss Hogg, the cantankerous political chief from television's "Dukes of Hazzard." Cooper, Church said, was just one of many participants in the scheme to stuff the ballot box with forged absentee ballots.

"This is not really a case of Boss Hogg; it looks, really, like Larry, Moe and Curly," she said, referring to the Three Stooges.

Prosecutors have asserted that the election scheme's aim was to win election for Cooper and candidate Owen Anderson "Andy" Sharrett III so that they could run the town to their liking. Both men won council seats during the election but stepped down after they were indicted in March. In between, Cooper was elected mayor by the council.

One part of the scheme involved bribing people to vote by offering them booze, cigarettes, prescription medication and snacks. The other part of the scheme involved forging absentee ballots. According to special prosecutor Tim McAfee, candidates persuaded people to apply for absentee ballots, and when the registrar mailed the ballots, they were intercepted at the post office.

Votes for Cooper and Sharrett were cast on the ballots, the voters' signatures were forged, and the voters' Social Security numbers — available to Sharrett's mother, who worked at Town Hall — were written in.

Of the numerous people indicted in the scheme, only one, former mail carrier Don Estridge, faced a jury. He was found guilty and is to be sentenced January 11, 2006.

Those who pled guilty yesterday are: Belinda Sharrett, 53, who is Andy Sharrett's mother and a former employee at Town Hall; Dennis M. Sharrett, 47, and Kevin L. Sharrett, 38, both uncles of Andy Sharrett; Jamie Fritz, 32, a contract carrier with the U.S. Postal Service in Appalachia; Michael Varner, 49, a member of the local rescue squad; and Rex Bush, 73, brother of the councilman/mayor who was ousted in the May 2004 election.

Former Councilman Andy Sharrett, his brother Adam Sharrett and their father, "Dude" Sharrett, former parks and recreation manager in Appalachia, plan to plead guilty Jan. 25, according to court documents.

Contact staff writer Rex Bowman at rbowman@timesdispatch.com or (540) 344-3612.

Top

| Chapter 5 — Lies, Damn Lies, and Mail In Elections |

| Next — Colorado, Denver, And Absentee Ballots: One City's Experience |

| Back— 'Ballot king' was paid by Orlando Mayor Dyer, other politicians to collect absentee ballots in Florida |

Added January 5, 2007

Last modified 6/14/09