JD Kesler (left) with his Attorney
TERRE HAUTE, IN. (ECWd) –
Jerome “J.D.” Kesler pleads guilty this morning in Vigo County Superior Court.
The Judge entered a Conviction of “Recklessly Registering to Vote more than once” – a Class A Misdemeanor in Indiana.
Kesler was sentenced to:
- 1 year in the Vigo County Jail (suspended)
- 1 year of informal probation (good time to count @ 50%)
- 80 hours of community service
- $185 fine/costs
Count 1 (felony charge of voting outside precinct) and Count 2 (felony charge of voting outside precinct residence knowingly vote or offer to vote in a precinct other than which he resides) were both dismissed due to the Guilty plea on Count 3.
Kesler entering building prior to Guilty plea:
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Kesler leaving the courtroom after conviction and sentencing:
This is the culmination of events that started in mid-2015 when we began looking into his residency and voting records after his appointment to the Edgar County Airport Advisory Board. When presented with the offending information, Kesler promptly resigned from the Airport board. When the offending information was presented to the Vigo County Commissioners, they willingly chose to ignore it and even changed their employment policy. Finally, a complaint was made to the Indiana State Police, who investigated the complaint and recommended charges be brought against Kesler.
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3 Comments
homer
Posted at 16:21h, 16 NovemberThis whole ordeal cost only the taxpayers of vigo county that a boy rob job well done
jmkraft
Posted at 22:38h, 16 NovemberYou could say that about any crime.
Robert O. Bogue
Posted at 13:21h, 16 NovemberI hope this example of voter fraud justice by an Indiana court does not become the standard; and that it has not become the standard of justice in Vigo County or in this country for that matter.
Two felony pleas bargained down to a single Class A misdemeanor, WOW. Unsupervised probation for a year…with good time at 50% with no one watching…that’s another WOW.
A $185.00 fine for corrupting our countries voting laws and tampering with 5 elections…(about a day’s pay from Keslers county job)…along with eighty hours of community service (can’t imagine how comfortable the Vigo County Government will make that for one of their own.) WOW, WOW, WOW. Could there be a Russian connection?
Justice was not served today and the citizens of Vigo County and this nation were once again denied accountability.
The plea bargain negotiated by one of Vigo Counties highest earning and most influential attorney allowed an over paid prosecutor, an over paid judge and others to avoid the work and presentation of a trial…and to do far less work than the taxpayers intended for them to accomplish.
This dirty deal agreed to by Vigo County Prosecutors and this Division One judge, completely undermined an 8 month investigation by the Indiana State Police that required court ordered documents to be obtained as well as substantial work during the investigation. This is a slap in the face for lady justice and for anyone that would have faith in the Vigo County legal system.
In this dirty deal, the guilty escapes with hardly a scratch with no need for a band aid; with no felony conviction and without any jail time. I’m wondering, if the ordinary Vigo County Taxpayer would get the same break.
The down side here is, the Vigo County taxpayers should consider the cost invested in prosecuting the Vigo County Deputy Director of Emergency Services; who often acted as a Vigo County spokesperson to the punishment administered. The consequences are beyond mind numbing. Not hardly a bread crumb.
When you look at the fine imposed for a 5 year crime wave it is undoubtedly less than half a solitary hours pay for this attorney. This too, is, another big whopping WOW’s worth of nothing.
Maybe the Vigo County taxpayers should consider closing the courthouse, if this is the best the system can do with two felony counts and an ISP investigation to back that up.