A Democratic county official in western Virginia has been charged with 82 felonies, scores of them related to election fraud.
Buchanan County Supervisor Trey Adkins was indicted by a grand jury on May 2, according to WJHL-TV in Johnson City, Tennessee.
According to the station, he’s facing 34 counts of making a false statement related to election fraud; 11 counts of violating absentee voting procedure; eight counts of public embezzlement; 11 counts of forgery of public records; 15 counts of uttering related to public records; and three counts of conspiracy to make a false statement related to election fraud.
Court documents cited by WJLH indicate that an investigation into the charges has been ongoing for more than two years. A prosecutor from nearby Russell County has been appointed special prosecutor in the case, which involves the Virginia State Police.
“According to the records, the jury found that the supervisor Trey Adkins falsified absentee ballots and forged signatures to win an election for public office,” WJHL reported.
Adkins first won election to the five-member Buchanan County Board of Supervisors in 2011, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.
The counts of embezzlement stem from allegations that Adkins supplied county-owned gravel to private individuals through his personal construction company.
Adkins’ aunt, Sherry Lynn Bailey, also was charged with 12 felonies in the indictment, according to WJHL.
Adkins released an 11-minute video on his personal Facebook page in response to the charges, strenuously asserting his innocence.
“We’re charged with voter fraud,” said Adkins plainly in his video.
“The issue they’re having is how the envelopes were witnessed. So, you know, it’s not that somebody didn’t get to vote the way they wanted to, or there was some kind of big fraud going on. That’s the term they use for the code section that they applied to it, and we’ll address that.”
Adkins is refusing to resign from the Buchanan County Board of Supervisors, pledging to continue in office as he fought against the election fraud charges in court.
After releasing the rambling video, Adkins has refused to speak to the news media, deferring to his criminal defense attorney.
With a population of about 20,000, according to the U.S. Census, Buchanan County is in the far western part of Virginia, with borders on both Kentucky and West Virginia.
