NEWS RELEASE
MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF ATTORNEY GENERAL
*************************
LANSING – Former candidate for the Saginaw City Council Eric Eggleston, 53, and current Saginaw City Council member Monique Lamar-Silvia, 64, both of Saginaw, have been charged with multiple felonies, announced Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Both are charged in connection to allegedly forged signatures on a nominating petition filed with the Saginaw City Clerk’s Office in an unsuccessful attempt to get Eggleston on the 2024 November General Election ballot as a candidate for City Council.
Eggleston is charged with:
- One count of conspiracy to do a legal act in an illegal manner, a five-year felony;
- One count of election law forgery, a five-year felony; and
- One count of signing a nominating petition as a circulator when he was not the circulator, a 93-day misdemeanor.
Lamar-Silvia is charged with:
- One count of conspiracy to do a legal act in an illegal manner;
- One count of election law forgery;
- One count of signing a nominating petition with multiple names, a five-year felony; and
- One count of signing a nominating petition with a name other than her own, a 93-day misdemeanor.
It is alleged that on July 23, 2024, Lamar-Silvia fraudulently signed the names of Saginaw voters to a petition form meant to secure Eggleston’s place on the ballot. Eggleston then allegedly signed the petition form, falsely certifying that he was the circulator, and submitted both forms to the clerk’s office shortly before the filing deadline that same day.
Eggleston was not granted placement on the ballot.
“Election laws and regulations ensure fairness and accountability in the electoral process,” Nessel said. “Dedicated and trustworthy clerks play a critical role in protecting local elections, as they demonstrated in this case by successfully identifying and disqualifying fraudulent signatures. While these safeguards worked as designed, my office takes election fraud allegations very seriously and will continue to investigate and prosecute violations.”
This matter was referred to the Attorney General by the Michigan Department of State following an investigation into a complaint of apparent election fraud made by the Saginaw City Clerk.
Arraignment dates have not yet been set for Eggleston and Lamar-Silvia.
*************************
