Arizona woman seeks leniency in ballot harvesting case

PHOENIX (AP) — A parade of character witnesses offered a choose Thursday with glowing stories a couple of southern Arizona girl who admitted gathering 4 voted early ballots within the 2020 main election, as her lawyer seeks leniency and prosecutors urge him to ship her to jail for a yr.

Testimony in Yuma County Superior Court docket painted an image of Guillermina Fuentes as crammed with regret and a pillar of small border group of San Luis. The 66-year-old mom and grandmother, witnesses mentioned, has spent her life serving to others whereas elevating her kids, caring for her growing older mom and constructing a enterprise. Jail or jail time, they mentioned, would damage the group and serve no goal.

Fuentes is a college board member and former mayor in San Luis who has pleaded responsible to a felony violation of Arizona’s “poll harvesting” legislation, which bars anybody however an individual’s relative, housemate or caregiver from returning ballots for them. Her codefendant, Alma Juarez, pleaded responsible to the identical cost, nevertheless it was designated as a misdemeanor after she agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Her settlement requires a sentence of probation. She carried 4 ballots Fuentes gave her right into a polling place and dropped them off.

Republicans have seized on the case as an indication of widespread voting fraud, however it’s the solely “poll harvesting” case ever prosecuted beneath Arizona’s 2016 legislation banning the follow, and fewer than a dozen instances from the 2020 election have been filed in a state the place greater than 3.1 million votes have been forged.

Sherri Castillo, a protection mitigation skilled who interviewed Fuentes and others in the neighborhood, instructed the court docket Thursday that her group involvement and volunteer work are onerous to adequately describe. “She places me to disgrace, I can let you know that,” Castillo mentioned. “I’ve by no means come throughout somebody who provides again extra to the group than Ms. Fuentes does.” She added, “Ms. Fuentes not being in the neighborhood could be a detriment to the group.”

Others who testified earlier than Choose Roger Nelson included the county probation officer who really helpful no jail time in her report, a Yuma County supervisor and former state senator who has recognized Fuentes for years, and a retired San Luis police officer who has recognized her since 1971 when each have been rising up within the then-tiny border group and serves along with her now on an area faculty board. “I believe that in our group loads of us look as much as her,” retired police officer Luis Marquez mentioned.

Assistant Lawyer Common Todd Lawson is in search of a yr in jail for Fuentes, telling Nelson that the case is in regards to the safety of elections and the 2016 Arizona legislation barring so-called “poll harvesting.” That is the primary prosecution beneath that legislation, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court docket final yr.

He mentioned that whereas Fuentes and Juarez have been captured on video by a political rival outdoors a vote middle inspecting 4 voted ballots, the query stays what they have been doing. “The query is, why does (Fuentes) really feel the necessity to exert strain over individuals in her group and management the circulate of their poll to the poll field,” Lawson instructed the choose. “That’s the problem of public integrity right here.”

Prosecutors alleged in court docket papers that Fuentes ran a complicated operation utilizing her standing in Democratic politics in San Luis to steer voters to let her collect and, in some instances, fill out their ballots. However they dropped extra critical costs of conspiracy and forgery and each pleaded responsible to a single depend of poll abuse.

A protection skilled who researched election legislation instances in Arizona testified that nobody with a clear report has ever been sentenced to jail or jail previously 20 years. Anne Chapman, Fuentes’ lawyer, instructed Nelson that doing so could be a miscarriage of justice. “She entered a plea of responsible to poll abuse — that’s, delivering 4 lawfully voted, signature-verified ballots,” Chapman mentioned. “The remainder of the allegations in opposition to Ms. Fuentes are unfaithful, unfounded, untested and largely made-up by election-denying political opponents who’ve a political ax to grind.”

Nelson’s court docket assistant beforehand instructed attorneys within the case in an e-mail that he intends “to offer them 30 days in jail.” He set sentencing for each ladies for subsequent week.

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