Nine-time felon sentenced to probation after pleading to fraudulent voting charges
BY JENNIFER CABRERA
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Leroy James Ross, Jr., 64, has been sentenced to three years of probation, 50 hours of community service, and $621 in court costs after entering a plea of nolo contendere to two counts of fraudulent voter registration and one count of willful voting by an unqualified elector. The maximum sentence for the charges is 15 years in prison.
Ross was released from prison in September 2021; he now has 12 felony convictions and 30 misdemeanor convictions.
Ross is the seventh to be sentenced of at least ten convicted felons who registered to vote or voted in 2020 at the Alachua County Jail but were unqualified to vote for various reasons; the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigation into the allegations found that Ross voted in the 2020 General Election from the jail by mail-in ballot after he was convicted in June 2020 for cocaine possession and tampering with evidence.
Dedrick Baldwin and Therris Conney were sentenced to 364 days in July 2022, Daniel Roberts was sentenced in June to three years in state prison, and Arthur Lang was sentenced to 18 months in state prison a few days later, all on similar charges. Henry Shuler was sentenced to one year and seven days in August 2022. Xavier Artis was sentenced to 13 months in prison on February 14, 2023. All of these defendants except Lang are serving the sentences concurrent with their previous sentences; Lang’s sentence extended his release date by eight months.
Three defendants still have open cases:
- Kelvin Bolton is out on bail and is awaiting trial;
- John Boyd Rivers is out on bail and is scheduled for trial in April;
- Christopher T. Wiggins is in the Alachua County Jail awaiting trial.
Well, he has to be out so he can vote. c mon
64 years old and 12 felony convictions later, I really don’t see this guy changing anytime soon.
Just another “returning citizen.”
Light sentences for crimes that can change course of an election. In Wokeville that makes sense. In the real world it makes no sense.
Dem CRT lawyers aren’t happy enough keeping golden goose repeat offenders stuck here like flies on 💩. They want them voting, too 🤡👹🤬
Convicted felons that want to have their rights restored and vote should be crime free for a minimum of 10 years. Statistics would probably prove that 75% couldn’t do it.
Three years of probation. What a joke compared to what they are doing to the January 6 trespassers with NO prior criminal records.
So while Cornell and his “progressive” minions were locking us down, Barton had Pyche go inside the county jail during a literal COVID outbreak at the jail?
Maybe bc those that already got out realized that no one will give you a chance at a life with a criminal record. Life inside is better than this effed up reality. Can’t get a job. Can’t get an apartment. How are they supposed to have even the slightest chance at straight life when you are constantly being reminded of your past. If street life is what you know, it’s streets or back inside. Or go stay at one of the homeless resorts we have in Gainesville and find a corner to share.
This was an easy, non-violent, middle finger in the face of the Sheriff’s office, way to go back in. This guy is probably pissed he didn’t get time. But they set you up to fail in probation too so, why waste money on it.
This is hogwash at its finest. Recidivist Watcher would you like some cheese with all of your whine?!? You sound like the type who has an excuse for everything under the sun. Thankfully there are many more in this country who are NOT like yourself- Americans who are focused on overcoming obstacles, rising to life’s challenges, and possibly even seeing the glass full. But go ahead and return to your couch and keep complaining- after all the liberals will probably reward you with all kinds of free stuff if you keep it up.
What you’re not being told is this guy and all the others were in jail and one of your city officials sent an employee to the jail to hand out voter slips. After they were filled out, he collected them and turned them in. Him and the city official were not charged. #selectiveprosecution
This guy apparently registered to vote before he was arrested.
Jails hold those awaiting trial. What’s your point??? It’s not illegal to register voters at jail. No one offered any evidence that those doing voter education did not explain who was legally allowed to register and who was prohibited.
This is what happens when the supervisor of elections signs up voters that are in jail & in cemeteries… we get “sleepy Joe”.
Wonder why the name of the judge who sentenced this guy is omitted? Whoever it is must despise the residents of Alachua County.
Judge James Colaw
What happened to those that knowingly registered these individuals. Who ok’d then to go into the county jail to make that dollar.