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Ex-Milwaukee County Supervisor charged with election fraud

Posted at 4:37 PM, Jul 19, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-20 09:02:42-04

Former Milwaukee County Supervisor Peggy West has been charged with election fraud.

Milwaukee Police said the County District Attorney charged her with the Class I Felony on Wednesday.

Police investigated a complaint referred to the County Ethics Board regarding nomination papers circulated and filed by West. 

West recently lost her reelection bid for her spot on the county board. 

During the campaign, West’s opponent Sylvia Ortiz-Velez accused her of discrepancies in her circulation of nominating papers for the 12th District Supervisor seat on the Milwaukee County Board. 

"I'm assuming they found the same thing that I ran across, I'm assuming they found that she did not circulate the papers that she certified that she circulated," Ortiz-Velez said. 

West lost the election by just over 200 votes in April and her supervisor Facebook page has been silent since then. 

West had a troubled time on the county board. 

The Ethics Board ruled she repeatedly mixed campaign work with county business. And in 2014, the state shut down a bar she owned because of unpaid taxes. 

West's attorney Michael Maistelman said, "She has nothing to hide."

"Mistakes were made, careless mistakes were made... She's aware of the significance of the investigation and what's going on," Maistelman said.