Former Atlantic City political leader Craig Callaway was sentenced to two years in federal prison this week for the procurement, casting and tabulation of fraudulent mail-in ballots during the 2022 general election.
Callaway, 66, brought mail-in ballots to an artform. But his tactics have long been questioned.
He was arrested in February 2024, for orchestrating a group that cast mail-in ballots for those who later claimed they never voted.
Callaway pleaded guilty this past February, and was sentenced to 24 months in prison Wednesday, followed by three years of supervised release.
“Today’s sentence sends a clear message to those who seek to undermine New Jersey’s electoral process: that such conduct will result in serious consequences,” U.S. Attorney Alina Habba said. “The sentence also reflects our office’s commitment to protecting free and fair elections, one of the bedrock principles of our democracy.”
Callaway has been free on $50,000 bond.
"With today's conviction, we can finally turn the page on this embarrassing chapter in Atlantic County history," Atlantic County Democratic Chairman Michael Suleiman said in a statement. "However, we must do everything we can to restore integrity to our elections and ensure that another Craig Callaway never emerges anywhere in New Jersey."
About a month before the Nov. 8, 2022 general election, Callaway and others working under his direction approached numerous individuals in Atlantic City promising to pay them $30 to $50 to act as purported authorized messengers for voters who supposedly wished to vote by mail, according to the court filings.
After receiving Vote-By-Mail Applications from Callaway or his subordinates, these purported messengers entered the Atlantic County Clerk’s Office carrying anywhere from one to four completed vote-by-mail applications.
These individuals provided the office with proof of identification and signed the applications in the authorized messenger portion before handing those signed applications to office personnel, under Callaway's direction, the complaint claims. The purported messengers waited while office personnel processed the applications and, if the applications were approved, provided to the purported messengers mail-in ballots for the voters listed on the applications.
Under New Jersey law, a messenger is required to deliver any mail-in ballot they received directly to the voter who requested the ballots, and certify that they would do so. However, after receiving mail-in ballots, these purported messengers left the County Clerk’s Office and instead handed the ballots to Callaway or his subordinates, the allegations claim.
Callaway previously served 42 months in prison in the early 2000s, after admitting he took $36,000 in bribes in August 2006. In 2008, he admitted to helping to organize a blackmail scheme against fellow Councilman Gene Robinson while awaiting sentencing. The plot involved a videotape of a sexual encounter between Robinson and a prostitute at an Absecon hotel, later used to pressure him to resign his seat.
The former City Council president was once an ally of Mayor Marty Small, but the two have been at odds for years.
Many of the mail-in ballots collected by Callaway or his subordinates were ultimately cast in the names of people who have confirmed that they did not vote in the 2022 general election — either in person or by submitting a mail-in ballot — and that they did not authorize Callaway, his subordinates, or anyone else, to cast ballots for them, according to the allegations. Many of these mail-in ballots were counted in the election.
Suleiman used the sentencing to again champion legislation that would make paying ballot messengers illegal.
"There will be other desperate candidates on both sides of the aisle who will be eager pay ballot harvesters, and there will inevitably be other political operatives who want to make a quick buck and think that they won't get caught by law enforcement," he said. "I am once again urging the General Assembly to pass the bill I've championed that would make payments to ballot messengers and bearers illegal. This legislation has already passed the Senate, and it is my hope that the Assembly will consider this bill before the end of the legislative session and send it to Governor Murphy's desk for his signature."
Callaway was not yet listed in federal custody. It was not clear where he would serve his time.
