Former Atlantic City Council president sentenced to 2 years for mail-ballot fraud scheme

Former Atlantic City Council President Craig Callaway was sentenced to two years in a federal prison after having pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining mail ballots in 2022 and submitting them on behalf of unsuspecting voters.

A well-known political operative, Callaway had an extensive vote-by-mail and messenger ballot operation in Atlantic County that was credited over the years with giving numerous local candidates their margin of victory.

Until pleading guilty, Callaway maintained that his get-out-the-vote operation followed procedures allowable under New Jersey law.

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A Democrat, Callaway was paid by members of both parties to assist their campaigns for elected offices over the years, including U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R., N.J.), who paid Callaway $50,000 in 2022 but said he was not aware of any illegal activity and was not accused of any wrongdoing.

Callaway’s controversial career has included convictions for bribery and a sex-and-blackmail scheme targeting a political rival. In the 1990s, he regularly followed around then-Mayor Jim Whelan with a bullhorn.

U.S. Attorney Alina Habba pledged her office would protect the right to vote in announcing Wednesday that Callaway, 64, had been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb in Camden federal court.

“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,” Habba said in a statement.

“The right to vote is a fundamental aspect of our democracy, one that the FBI and our law enforcement partners strive to protect,” she said.

Callaway could not be reached for comment; a previous cell phone number had been disconnected. His attorney, Megan Davies, said she had no comment.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy said: “Craig Callaway’s nefarious plot to hijack mail-in ballots resulted in his arrest and subsequent sentencing, and serves as a reminder to like-minded criminals, voter fraud will not be tolerated in New Jersey.”

According to court documents and testimony, Callaway in 2022 approached numerous people in Atlantic City and promised to pay them $30 to $50 to act as authorized messengers for voters who wanted to vote by mail.

These messengers obtained mail-ballot applications for voters who had never authorized them to do so. Under New Jersey law, messengers are required to deliver any mail ballot they received directly to the voter who requested the ballot and must certify that they would do so.

But the messengers handed the ballots only to Callaway or his subordinates, Habba said, instead of delivering them to the voters.

“Many of the mail-in ballots collected by Callaway or his subordinates were ultimately cast in the names of voters 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 in the 2022 General Election," Habba said in the statement. Many of those ballots were counted, she said.

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In addition to the prison term, Bumb sentenced Callaway to three years of supervised release.

Atlantic County Democratic Committee chairman Michael Suleiman urged the legislature to pass a bill that would make paying ballot messengers illegal in an effort to thwart future “desperate candidates on both sides of the aisle eager to pay ballot harvesters” and “other political operatives who want to make a quick buck and think that they won’t get caught.”

“With today’s conviction, we can finally turn the page on this embarrassing chapter in Atlantic County history,” Suleiman said. “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.”