Former Plainfield mayoral candidate indicted on eight counts of election fraud

PLAINFIELD – A former city mayoral candidate has been indicted on charges of submitting hundreds of fraudulent voter registration applications to Union County election officials and then attempting to cover up his actions .

Dr. Henrilynn Ibezim, 70, was indicted on eight counts – the second-degree crimes of election fraud and trafficking in personal identifying information pertaining to another person; the third-degree crimes of criminal attempt to commit false registration or transfer, tampering with public records or information, forgery, hindering apprehension or prosecution and tampering with witnesses and informants; and the fourth-degree crime of falsifying or tampering with records, state Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.

In June 2021 Ibezim was a Plainfield mayoral candidate in the Democratic primary. He brought a garbage bag containing nearly 1,000 faked voter registration applications, allegedly from Plainfield residents, to an Elizabeth post office on North Broad Street with plans to mail them to the Union County Commissioner of Registration, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Ibezim allegedly created and tried to submit the false voter registration applications with people's personal information without their authorization. Many of the applications had the same handwriting from only three or four people. The applications did not state, as required, that they were completed by anyone other than the voter for whom the application was submitted, the Attorney General's Office said.

During an investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability, Ibezim allegedly tried to give law enforcement false information. He alleged that he paid two people to obtain completed voter registration forms and that he talked with those two individuals prior to bringing the applications to the post office.

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Ibezim also allegedly instructed a witness on how to respond to law enforcement questions in an interview and to not “admit anything,” the Attorney General's Office said.

Ibezim, who ran on the Unity Candidate slate in the June 2021 Plainfield Democratic primary for mayor, received an unofficial 80 votes. He was defeated by three other candidates including Mayor Adrian Mapp, the top vote getter in the primary who ran unopposed in the general election. Ibezim had previously run for mayor in 2017.

If convicted of the second-degree crimes, Ibezim could be sentenced to 5 to 10 years in state prison and received a fine of up to $150,000.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Former Plainfield mayoral candidate indicted on eight counts of election fraud