NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

JOHN F. WOOD

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

MAY 17, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ACORN EMPLOYEE PLEADS GUILTY TO

VOTER REGISTRATION FRAUD

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – John F. Wood, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Kansas City, Mo., woman hired by ACORN to work in a voter registration drive pleaded guilty in federal court today to voter registration fraud.

Carmen R. Davis, also known as Latisha Reed, 38, of Kansas City, pleaded guilty before U.S. Chief District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan this morning to the charge contained in a Jan. 5, 2007, federal indictment.

Davis was hired by ACORN, a not-for-profit organization, to work with Project Vote, also a not-for-profit organization that works with ACORN to register voters for federal and local elections. ACORN and Project Vote recruit and assign workers to visit low-income and minority neighborhoods in Jackson County, Mo., and elsewhere to obtain voter registrations. The workers are trained and instructed regarding how to obtain voter registrations and the preparation of voter registration applications.

Davis, who was employed as a voter registration recruiter for ACORN in August and September 2006, admitted that she caused three false voter registration applications – all in the same name, but with different addresses – to be filed with the Kansas City Board of Election Commissioners.

Under federal statutes, Davis could be subject to a sentence of up to five years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $ 250,000. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Parker Marshall. It was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

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