Former Milwaukee County supervisor appears in court for election fraud allegations
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (CBS 58) – Former Milwaukee County Supervisor Peggy West appeared in court for the first time on Monday.
West is accused of falsifying signatures to get her name on the spring ballot. She's charged with election fraud which is a felony.
West made no comment following her appearance. Her attorney, Micheal Maistelman, says West has been fully cooperating in the investigation and feels any jail time on this matter would be excessive.
This investigation started at the request of her spring election opponent Sylvia Ortiz-Velez who claims West illegally gathered signatures for nomination papers.
According to the criminal complaint, a number of people whose signatures appeared on the West’s nomination papers told police they never signed. A few people even said their names were spelled wrong in those signatures.
While West claims to have collected the signatures herself, many people say they never even met the former County Supervisor.
West lost what would have been her fifth term to Ortiz-Velez in April.
“She’s hanging in there,” says Micheal Maistelman, West’s attorney. “She’s about to be a grandmother again. She’s proudly served her constituents for so many years and she’s keeping her head up”.
West was released on a $5,000 bond. She’s expected back in court August 8th at 1:30 P.M.