1 week Ago By CHRIS DUNKER Lincoln Journal Star
A Grand Island man who forged signatures onto a pair of initiative petitions seeking to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in Hall County Court last week. Michael Egbert, 66, pleaded guilty to attempted false swearing to a circulator’s affidavit on Friday, one week after he testified to copying names from a phone book onto petition sheets in Lancaster County District Court. In exchange for the guilty plea, Hall County Attorney Martin Klein reduced Egbert’s charge from a Class IV felony to a Class I misdemeanor.
Egbert must pay a $250 fine plus court costs. The paid circulator for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana submitted dozens of names and signatures from individuals who had not signed the petitions as the campaign sought to qualify for the ballot this year. The discrepancies were discovered by Hall County election officials during the routine review of the petitions and brought to the attention of Klein and the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, which launched its own investigation.
The state’s investigation, which ran in parallel to a private examination of the petitions conducted by former state Sen. John Kuehn, led to Secretary of State Bob Evnen filing a cross-claim against Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana. Evnen, through the attorney general, alleged that Egbert and others’ actions had tainted tens of thousands of signatures on the petitions.
He requested a Lancaster County District Court judge deem the petitions “legally insufficient” and have the results of the election rendered void. During a four-day bench trial that wrapped up on Nov. 4 — the day before Election Day — the attorney general’s office sought to introduce evidence of fraud and malfeasance, including from Egbert admitting his own crimes himself.
Egbert told the court that in addition to forging signatures, he also signed his petition pages outside the presence of a notary — a violation of the rules for notaries — leaving them at a CBD business in Grand Island. But on cross-examination questioning from Daniel Gutman, an attorney for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, Egbert said he was told by Klein, representatives of the attorney general’s office, and others, he would be “covered” if he testified during the civil trial. The former Marine, who described battling a neurological condition that affected his memory, could not tell the court what he meant by that term, however.
Gutman told Egbert a video of him discussing his involvement with civil investigators from the attorney general’s office had been turned over before the trial, and asked if he had any other conversations with the state. Egbert once again said he couldn’t remember who he spoke to, adding he also couldn’t tell the difference between a civil investigator and officials from the Hall County Sheriff’s Office. Judge Susan Strong, who took the case under advisement and will review briefs submitted by both sides in the case this week, questioned Egbert directly at the end of his time on the stand.
“Can you tell me whether you’ve ever met anybody at these tables before?” Strong asked. “No, not before yesterday or the day before,” Egbert said. Both medical marijuana petitions — Initiative 437, which legalizes cannabis for medical use in Nebraska, and Initiative 438, which creates a regulatory structure for medical marijuana — passed with broad support on Nov.
5. Initiative 437 won the support of nearly 71% of all voters, passing in 70 of Nebraska’s 93 counties. Initiative 438 received 67% support from voters, and passed in 60 counties.
Reach the writer at 402-473-7120 or [email protected] . On Twitter @ChrisDunkerLJS We're always interested in hearing about news in our community.
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