Disclaimer: This article may contain the viewpoint of the personal views and opinions of the author.
Election integrity and law enforcement are hot topics in the news today. Police agencies are under intense scrutiny throughout our nation right now. Election laws and processes are being reviewed in every district to ensure legal and fair elections.
Amite City is a small parish located in southeastern Louisiana north of Baton Rouge and New Orleans. It has a population of over four thousand people. It is known for being the home of Heisman Trophy winner and current Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith.
The Police Department looks more like a general store than it does a functioning twenty-four-hour seven days per week law enforcement agency. The small department finds itself in the spotlight after former Chief of Police Jerry Trabona and Town Council Member Kristian Hart get embroiled in criminal activity.
Justice.gov reports “a former police chief in Amite City and a current Amite City Council member pleaded guilty yesterday in New Orleans, Louisiana, to criminally violating federal election laws as part of a conspiracy to pay, or offer to pay, voters for voting in a federal election.”
According to the court documents, the two town officials offered to pay for votes in the 2016 primaries and national elections. Hart pled guilty to doing it again in 2020. Both men now face up to five years in prison. They won’t find out until the sentencing hearings in November.
According to WDSU.com, there were six other people involved in the scheme when Hart and Trabona were running for re-election. The six other people, are not identified but allegedly provided transportation for people to and from polling locations while paying those voters between ten and twenty dollars.
Both Hart and Trabona were Democrat candidates at the time of the elections. Hart won city council re-election in the 2016 and 2020 elections. Chief Trabona, was actually running for Mayor but lost by a large amount to eventual winner Walter Daniels.
Election fights are underway in various places around the country. The 2020 elections had numerous discrepancies occur that questioned the validity of the American Democratic system. These issues led to the events in Washington D.C. on January 6th and the subsequent hearings.
Many believe the hearings will attempt to influence and impact the upcoming mid-term elections in November. It has not helped co-Chair Liz Cheney. She is behind her Trump-endorsed candidate by more than twenty points in the latest polls.
“We must have fair elections, free from the taint of corruption, to ensure a fully functional government,” stated U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans for the Eastern District of Louisiana. “Safeguarding the voting process is of paramount importance to our office and the Department of Justice.”
Former Chief of Police Trabona will not help the current feelings towards law enforcement either. Everyone has seen the videos surfacing in the Uvalde school shooting. People are unhappy and angry with the agencies present during the horrific incident.
The nation does not need police officers such as Trabona wearing the badge. He took an oath to serve and protect. He violated that oath. As a retired cop, I think I can speak for thousands of former and current cops everywhere when I say good riddance.
