More than four years after he was caught with a box full of fraudulently obtained mail-in ballots, Carrollton mayoral candidate Zul Mohamed pleaded guilty Monday to 109 voter fraud felonies.
A Denton County jury will decide Mohamed’s punishment, which could be from 2 to 20 years in prison or probation.
Mohamed ran for mayor in November 2020 after losing a Carrollton City Council race in 2018.
In September 2020, Denton County Elections officials received dozens of suspicious ballot-by-mail applications, all with similar writing and requesting ballots be sent to the same address—which turned out to be a commercial mailbox store.
Denton County Sheriff’s Office investigators placed trackers in a box of ballots, staked out the store, and traced the scheme back to Mohamed. The candidate presumably intended to fill out the ballots for himself.
In October 2020, Mohamed was arrested and charged with 84 counts of submitting fraudulent mail ballot applications and 25 counts of possessing mail ballots or carrier envelopes without the voter’s knowledge or request.
Because multiple offenses were committed in a single election, the offenses were increased to third- and second-degree felonies.
After years of delays, Mohamed agreed last month to enter a guilty plea and asked for a jury to assess his punishment.
Then in court on Monday, with jury selection set to begin, Mohamed told his attorney he wanted to withdraw his guilty plea and have the jury decide his guilt or innocence.
“I don’t want probation. I don’t care if they lock me up. It’s a matter of principle,” he said.
While waiting for prospective jurors to arrive, Mohamed told Texas Scorecard his attorney had “coerced” him to enter a guilty plea.
“I’ve maintained my innocence since Day 1,” he said.
He claimed that key information was withheld from him until last week, but that Judge LeeAnn Breading denied his request for another continuance.
According to Mohamed, the fraudulently requested ballots that investigators tracked to his house were not “real” ballots, so he shouldn’t be charged with a crime for having them.
He also claimed that other evidence against him is false.
“I just want fairness,” he said.
However, by the end of the day Monday, Mohamed had changed his mind again.
Following jury selection, the court presented the two indictments—for Fraudulent Use of Application for Ballot By Mail and Method of Returning Marked Ballot—and Mohamed pleaded guilty to both sets of charges.
Assistant District Attorney Jesse Davis, who is prosecuting the case, said the state will still present testimony and evidence of Mohamed’s guilt, starting on Tuesday.
Judge Breading told jurors the trial would likely last two days.