Henrilynn Ibezim pleaded guilty to forging nearly 1,000 voter registration applications tied to a 2021 mayoral primary in Plainfield, New Jersey.
Henrilynn Ibezim, a former Democratic mayoral candidate in Plainfield, New Jersey, has pleaded guilty to forging nearly 1,000 voter registration applications connected to the city’s 2021 Democratic primary, the state attorney general’s office announced Thursday.
The plea resolves a central count in a case that prosecutors said involved a large batch of falsified applications that Ibezim intended to mail to Union County’s registration commissioner. The applications were brought to a post office in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in a garbage bag, according to the attorney general’s office.
Officials said most of the roughly 1,000 forms appeared to have been filled out in the handwriting of only three or four people. None was marked as having been completed by someone other than the voter it purported to represent, the office said.
Ibezim ran in the 2021 primary on the Unity Party ticket and received 103 votes, losing to Adrian O. Mapp, Plainfield’s current mayor.
Under a plea agreement, Ibezim pleaded guilty Monday to one count of third-degree forgery. He had originally faced eight counts, including election fraud and witness tampering, but those charges were dropped as part of the deal. Prosecutors will recommend probation, and sentencing is scheduled for June.
The attorney general’s office previously said Ibezim also tried to coach a witness who helped complete the applications on how to answer law enforcement questions, telling the witness not to “admit anything.”
Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said the case reflected the state’s obligation to protect trust in elections. “My office is determined to ensure elections are fair and that their outcomes are determined by the will of the voters,” Davenport said in a statement.
The final punishment will be decided at sentencing.
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