Lodi city council member reverses decision to resign after being arrested on additional charges
LODI - He was arrested, forced to resign, and now he's back on the job? It's a new twist after a local politician was placed in cuffs.
The attorney of Shakir Khan says his client was coerced into agreeing to step down. The new charges of voter fraud against Khan come as a separate criminal case from 2019 moves forward.
Shakir Khan's attorney tells us his client was "under duress" when a city official forced him to resign without any legal representation there. He says Khan has not stepped down from his city council post, but the sheriff's office says there is a long list of evidence that shows Khan violated the public's trust.
A Lodi City Councilman, cuffed, as the city's mayor makes a bold statement about Shakir Khan on social media. Mayor Mikey Hothi confirmed the resignation.
"I had the opportunity to speak with him here at the county jail and ask for his resignation, he agreed to resign," Hothi said.
But Khan's attorney, Allen Sawyer, tells CBS13 that his client was coerced into resigning without counsel present. He maintains Khan has recanted and is still on the job.
"In my mind, there's no question that this influenced the outcome of this election," said San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office arrested the 33-year-old on eight counts of voter fraud after they say a search warrant at his home uncovered dozens of sealed and completed mail-in ballots from the 2020 election. Authorities say that's when they found irregularities in the voter rolls.
"There were 232 people registered to vote with an address to our local prisons," said Capt. Art Harty with the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office. "There were 4,144 that were 90 years old and older...We even found one person on the voter rolls by the name of Jesus Christ."
CBS13 political analyst, Gary Dietrich, says this case will likely reignite concerns about election integrity.
"I wouldn't be surprised if this case actually gets national attention -- about people who are saying what gives? How can these people possibly get away with this?" said Dietrich.
The Registrar's Office says it's cooperating with the investigation and believes the fallout may be far from over.
Olivia Hale, San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters, says "that is very possible. Tampering with a federal election is a federal crime, so we could see what that becomes as this progresses."
Khan is currently being held without bail in the County Jail. He's set to face a judge on these new charges Friday afternoon. We did reach out to the Mayor's office after speaking with Khan's attorney, but we haven't heard back. Khan will go before another judge in that other case on charges of money laundering, tax evasion, and EDD fraud next week.
