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Paterson City Council President and Associates Face Expanded Election Fraud Charges Amid New Revelations
The Office of Public Integrity and Accountability unearths additional allegations of ballot tampering and witness manipulation against Alex Mendez and co-conspirators.
Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin has announced the leveling of new, more serious charges against Paterson City Council President Alex Mendez, as ongoing investigations yield deeper layers of alleged election fraud and witness tampering.
In a shocking development, the Attorney General's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA) has expanded the case against Alex Mendez, 48, of Paterson, New Jersey, who now faces additional charges of election fraud and witness tampering. The charges also extend to Mendez’s wife, Yohanny Mendez, 48, Omar Ledesma, 35, and Iris Rigo, 38, all residents of Paterson.
What Led to the Charges
The initial investigation began when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service reported to the Attorney General's Office that hundreds of mail-in ballots from the May 2020 Paterson municipal election were discovered in a mailbox in neighboring Haledon. Additional ballots were found in a Paterson mailbox during the same period, which was during the pandemic when all voting was conducted by mail.
"The defendants are accused of attempting to rig an election in their favor and to deprive the voters of Paterson of having their voices heard," said Attorney General Platkin.
Investigators say that Mendez and his associates went so far as to collect ballots directly from households, examine their votes, and in some cases, discard or replace those not in Mendez's favor.
"We allege that Mendez and his associates unlawfully collected ballots and tampered with ballots to give him an unfair edge in the race for the 3rd Ward seat on the Paterson City Council," added Thomas Eicher, the Executive Director of OPIA.
Breaking Down the Fraud
The investigation alleges that Mendez and his campaign personally collected unsealed mail-in ballots from voters, examined them at Mendez's campaign headquarters, and either accepted or destroyed them based on whether they favored Mendez. Blank ballots used for replacements were allegedly obtained by stealing them from voters' mailboxes.
State law prohibits a candidate from serving as a ballot bearer for other voters in the district in which he or she is running. It's alleged that Mendez flouted this law by collecting and even observing the mailing of multiple ballots.
Witness Tampering
After being initially indicted on February 24, 2021, Mendez and associates were allegedly caught on an audio recording planning to contact witnesses against Alex Mendez to propose new, defense-friendly statements.
The charges against the suspects are extensive and range from second-degree conspiracy to commit election fraud to third-degree forgery and witness tampering.
The case is a serious blow to the credibility of democratic institutions in Paterson and New Jersey as a whole. It further underscores the necessity for rigorous oversight and accountability in electoral processes to ensure the integrity of democracy.
The case is currently being prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Eric Cohen of the OPIA, under the supervision of several higher-ups in the department. It has received crucial support from Mary Catherine Ryan, the former Chief Assistant Prosecutor of the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office and current Assistant Attorney General.
