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One of two women facing criminal charges, accused of trying to rig the recall of Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle, is nowhere to be found.
Nebraska Watchdog has learned that an arrest warrant has been issued for 23-year-old Keosha Slaughter, who worked for the Mayor Suttle Recall Committee.
Slaughter is facing up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for faking several names on a petition, which is a felony. According to information obtained by Nebraska Watchdog this is the second time Slaughter has been accused in a bogus name game. Although she was only 13-years-old at the time, Omaha police records indicate she was arrested in a forgery-shoplifting incident in 2001. The charges were apparently dropped.
According to the warrant and information released by Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine, Slaughter is living at the Omaha Housing Authority’s (OHA) Park Tower Apartments just west of downtown.
But officials with OHA tell Nebraska Watchdog that Slaughter was ”locked out of her apartment” and evicted on September 10th of last year and they have no idea where she went.
The second woman 51-year-old Cheryl Wheeler, who is accused of bribing and coercing voters to vote for Suttle, is due in court next month on misdemeanor charges.
Only Nebraska Watchdog was with Wheeler at her far north side home Tuesday when she was ticketed in connection with “Operation Homeless Vote”, a scheme which found the Suttle campaign picking up folks who were down-and-out and busing them to the election office where they could register and vote. Suttle’s opponents suspected the homeless were illegally paid $5.00 for each vote. If convicted Wheeler is facing up to six months in jail and a $1,100 fine.
Wheeler insists she did nothing wrong; didn’t bribe anyone and didn’t tell anyone how to vote. She also tells Nebraska Watchdog that somebody is trying to make her the fall-guy.
Reported by Joe Jordan, joe@nebraskawatchdog.org
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