Former Democratic congressman charged in multi-year voter fraud scheme in Philadelphia

A Democratic politician in Pennsylvania has been charged in connection with a multi-year voting fraud scheme, several months after his co-conspirator was convicted of similar crimes.

The Justice Department this week announced that 77-year-old Philadelphia resident Michael Myers, a former congressman, is being charged with stuffing ballot boxes, bribing an elected official, falsifying records, obstructing justice and voting multiple times in federal elections.

Some of those alleged crimes took place across multiple elections.

Myers conspired with former Democratic ward chairman Dominick Demuro to carry out those crimes, the Justice Department said in a press release this week. Demuro in May plead guilty to accepting bribes to stuff ballot boxes in Pennsylvania elections to help federal, state and local officials win their respective races.

Myers is alleged to have bribed Demuro to "add votes for certain candidates of their mutual party in primary elections," the Justice Department said further. 

Some of those candidates were "individuals running for judicial office whose campaigns had hired Myers, and others were candidates for various federal, state, and local elective offices whom Myers favored for a variety of reasons."

Myers would reportedly "solicit payments from his clients in the form of cash or checks as 'consulting fees,' and then use portions of these funds to pay Demuro and others in return for tampering with election results," the department further alleges. 

The FBI was assisted by the Pennsylvania State Police in the investigation into the alleged crimes.