Picked candidates for election
Changed votes at the voting machine
Top public officials in Clay County schemed to buy votes in several elections so they could hold on to power and enrich themselves and others, a federal grand jury has charged.
Those indicted include R. Cletus Maricle, 65, who was a circuit judge from 1991 through July 2007 and is now a senior judge; schools Superintendent Douglas C. Adams, 57, who has held the office since 1999; County Clerk Freddy W. Thompson, 45, who won election in 2002; Charles Wayne Jones, 69, the county's Democratic election commissioner; and election officer William E. Stivers, 56.
The five allegedly used the county election board as a tool to corrupt elections between March 2002 and July 2007, according to an indictment released Thursday after FBI agents, state police and other officers swept through the county to arrest them...
...All eight are charged with racketeering, a law prosecutors use to combat organized crime...
...The corruption investigation continues, raising the potential for more charges.
The new indictment says Maricle and Adams were considered "political bosses" in the county and used their influence to appoint corrupt members to the county election board.Schools superintendents often head the largest employer in rural counties, giving them considerable influence...
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