ESL machine busted, big fish swim on
A federal jury returned a verdict of guilty (on all counts) for soon-to-be ex-ESL political boss Charlie Powell, former city department head Kelvin Ellis and others in a vast voter-fraud conspiracy designed to pay voters for their votes.
The trial contained all the elements of a soap opera. There was sex and romance between FBI snitches Rudy “Showtime” McIntosh (former ESL deputy police chief) and former city employee, Dannita Youngblood.
Then there were the lies and rhetorical flip-flops by the FBI’s “star witnesses” McIntosh, Youngblood and FBI agent John Jimenez, all three forced to either recant or admit to lying.
Defense attorney Bruce Cook’s strategy was to divert attention away from the defendants’ tape-recorded, self-incriminating words and attack the credibility of the prosecution’s witnesses, while using a folksy style.
However, that’s hard to pull off with defendants whose big mouths were only exceeded by their arrogance, sloppiness and ineptitude.
Powell was overheard saying, “They know you gonna pay everybody who come (sic) vote.” Defendant Sheila Thomas announces, in one clip, “We paid everybody!” Ellis went so far as to instruct an election worker to give voters a fake name. Too bad he gave that instruction to Dannita Youngblood, a federal witness who was wired at the time.
The jury proved to be sophisticated enough to ignore the defense’s smokescreens and focus on the FBI’s secret recordings, which sealed the fate of Powell, Ellis and company.
Each defendant faces a maximum of five years for each charge. However, U.S. District Judge G. Patrick Murphy must entertain a series of defense motions and has much latitude in sentencing. Ellis must still face charges of attempting to have a federal witness murdered, as well as tax-evasion charges.
The exclusion of St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern, the county Democratic Party’s biggest donor, should not be taken lightly. We know that three days prior to the November 2 elections, county Democrats paid $18,400 to 11 Democratic precinct committeemen in ESL. I find it hard to believe that Mr. Kern and other “big shot” party leaders (who happen to be white) were oblivious to what their dollars were being used for.
Plantation owners generally kept a short leash on their slaves. And, as much as Charlie Powell deserves to be locked away, he didn’t run the plantation.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com.