Sullivan County Consultant Admits Rigging Election

The final defendant in a voter fraud scheme intended at taking over an upstate village government pleaded guilty Monday.

In 2013, consultant Volvy Smilowitz and a couple developers were trying to build a massive housing development in the Sullivan County village of Bloomingburg. But some locals objected. They alleged the project was an effort to draw ultra-orthodox Jews from crowded city neighborhoods like Williamsburg, changing the character of the village with thousands of new units.

So, Smilowitz and the developers registered false voters and bribed others to elect friendly local officials, according to prosecutors.They even left toothbrushes in empty apartments to fool authorities.

Developers Shalom Lamm and Kenneth Nakdimen already pleaded guilty and were sentenced to prison last year. Smilowitz pleaded guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy to corrupt the electoral process and is schedule to be sentenced in federal court in October.