NOBLESVILLE, Ind., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White was convicted Saturday of deliberately voting from the wrong address in the May 2010 primary.
White, a Republican, automatically forfeited his job when the jury found him guilty of six of seven felonies, The Indianapolis Star reported. He said he plans to ask the judge to reduce the charges to misdemeanors when he is sentenced, which might allow him to return to office.
In 2010, White was a member of the town council in Fishers, an Indianapolis suburb. Prosecutors said he used his ex-wife's address because he had moved out of his district.
The jury returned its verdict at about 2 a.m. Gov. Mitch Daniels issued a news release before 3 a.m. announcing he had appointed Jerry Bonnet, White's deputy, as interim secretary.
"I have chosen not to make a permanent appointment today out of respect for the judge's authority to lessen the verdict to a misdemeanor and reinstate the elected office holder," Daniels said. "If the felony convictions are not altered, I anticipate making a permanent appointment quickly."
A judge has ruled in a lawsuit brought by the Democrats that White was ineligible to run in 2010 because he was voting from the wrong address and that Vop Osili, his opponent, is the secretary of state. That decision was stayed while Republicans appeal.
