Ex Aide to Joe Garcia Heads to Jail for Absentee Ballot Fraud

The former chief of staff for U.S. Rep.Joe Garcia, D-Fla., will be heading to jail for arranging a fraudulent absentee-ballot request scheme during the 2012 election.

Jeffrey Garcia, Rep. Garcia's longtime political strategist, will be required to spend 90 days in jail as part of a plea deal reached with the Miami-Dade state attorneys office, according to the Miami Herald.The deal will require Garcia, who has no relation to the congressman, to plead guilty to requesting absentee ballots on behalf of voters, which is a felony.

He accepts responsibility for his conduct which involved requesting absentee ballots for voters when it was the voters themselves who are required to make the requests, said Garcia's attorney Henry Bell. Jeff is a good person who made a mistake. He is sorry and is doing the right thing in admitting this and accepting responsibility."