Former Saginaw City Council candidate sentenced in election law forgery case
A former Saginaw City Council candidate was sentenced in an election law forgery case, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced.
On Thursday, Eric Eggleston, 53, of Saginaw, was sentenced to 18 months of probation and 140 hours of community service after state prosecutors said he forged signatures on a nominating petition in an unsuccessful attempt to secure his name on the November 2024 election.
Nessel alleges that on July 23, 2024, former Saginaw City councilmember Monique Lamar-Silvia fraudulently signed the names of Saginaw voters to a petition form in an attempt to get Eggleston on the November ballot. Nessel accuses Eggleston of signing that petition form and submitting the forms to the city clerk's office later the same day. He was not allowed on the ballot.
Eggleston was convicted in June on one count of conspiracy to do a legal act in an illegal manner, one count of election law forgery, and one count of signing a nominating petition as the circulator when he was not the circulator.
Lamar-Silvia was sentenced in August to probation and community service after being convicted of one count of conspiracy to do a legal act in an illegal manner, one count of election law forgery, one count of signing a nominating petition with multiple names, and one count of signing a nominating petition with a name other than her own.
"When candidates break the law to try to secure a place on the ballot, they undermine the trust voters place in our electoral system," Nessel said in a statement. "My department remains committed to holding those accountable who attempt to cheat the process."