Two weeks after he lost his right to vote, former Charlotte mayor and convicted felon Patrick Cannon apparently cast a ballot.
That vote violated Cannon’s bond and could put him back before a judge, said Greg Forrest, chief of the U.S. Probation Office in Charlotte.
It may even mean the 47-year-old Democrat could go to prison sooner.
“Let’s cut to the chase: He shouldn’t have done that, and we’re going to talk to him tomorrow (Wednesday),” Forrest told the Observer.
Forrest said he will also report the violation to U.S. District Court Judge Frank Whitney, who on Oct. 14 sentenced Cannon to 44 months in prison. Whitney allowed Cannon to remain free on bond until he is ordered to report to an undisclosed federal prison. Cannon is expected to enter prison later this month.
Whitney said Tuesday he could not comment on anything specific to Cannon’s case.
Forrest, however, said Whitney could order Cannon’s immediate incarceration.
According to Forrest, Cannon lost his voting privileges as far back as June 3, when he pleaded guilty to a corruption charge. At the very least, he lost his voting eligibility on Oct. 14, when he was sentenced or the next day when Whitney’s sentence officially became part of the court record, Forrest said.
Cannon is still listed as an active voter on the records of the Mecklenburg Board of Elections.
Those records indicate that Cannon cast an early ballot on Oct. 30.
Michael Dickerson, the county’s election director, said Tuesday he cannot remove the name of a felon convicted in federal court until he receives notification from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. As of Tuesday, he said he has not received the notice.
Dickerson has said that if Cannon voted his ballot could be challenged.
Dickerson said Cannon voted at Elon Park, one of the county’s early voting sites.
U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins’ office did not immediately respond to questions about Cannon’s vote.
Cannon was arrested in March. He pleaded guilty to accepting more than $50,000 in bribes from undercover FBI agents and Charlotte strip club owner David “Slim” Baucom.
In February, Cannon accepted a $20,000 bribe in the mayor’s office and, according to an FBI affidavit, solicited more than $1 million in kickbacks. He had been an FBI target since 2010.
A phone call Tuesday to James Ferguson, Cannon’s attorney, was not immediately returned.
Read more here: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/11/04/5290451/convicted-felon-patrick-cannon.html#.VFlPotR4qIB#storylink=cpy
