Former Scott Taylor staffer pleads guilty to willful neglect of election duty after petition scandal

VIRGINIA BEACH (WAVY) -- A third former staffer of ex-Congressman Scott Taylor has pleaded guilty after being charged with election fraud.

Heather Guillot was accused of falsifying signatures to get third-party candidate Shaun Brown on the ballot when Taylor (R) ran for reelection in Virginia’s 2nd Congressional District in 2018. He ended up losing to Congresswoman Elaine Luria in that election, and lost again to Luria in 2020.

Guillot pleaded guilty to willful neglect of election duty after first being charged with felony false statement/election fraud. It was the same deal given to the two other staffers, who had also originally faced the same felony charges. She got a 1-year suspended sentence and a $1,000 net fine, meaning she won't serve jail time.

3rd former staffer of former US rep Scott Taylor pleads guilty in election petition scandal.Heather Guillot, 32, gets same plea deal as first two. No active jail time, one year suspended sentence, $1000 net fine. @WAVY_News

— Chris Horne (@ChrisHorneWAVY) March 30, 2021

In March 2020, former staffer Lauren Peabody, formerly Lauren Creekmore, pleaded guilty. The third staffer, Roberta Marciano, pleaded guilty in September 2020.

Taylor meanwhile has continued to claim he had no involvement in the scandal, but the case is still under investigation.

Look for more coverage from WAVY's Chris Horne later today.

from WAVY.com https://ift.tt/3sBm2eL