Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl received one year of probation for orchestrating robocalls aimed at intimidating roughly 12,000 Black voters in Detroit during the 2020 election. The calls spread false claims about mail-in voting, including threats involving police, debt collectors, and mandatory vaccines, according to the Department of Attorney General.
They pleaded no contest to charges of voter intimidation, conspiracy, and using a computer to commit these crimes, avoiding a trial through a Cobbs agreement. The sentence was issued by Judge Margaret VanHouten, with AG Dana Nessel condemning the scheme as an attack on fundamental voting rights, as reported by the Department of Attorney General.
The legal case against Burkman and Wohl continued through multiple failed appeals, including an initial motion to quash the charges and later appeals that were all denied. The Michigan Supreme Court sent the case to the Court of Appeals to determine whether their actions were protected speech, and the court ruled they were not. The state’s high court then declined to hear another appeal, leaving the criminal charges in place. The press release states that Attorney General Dana Nessel said, “The defendants’ conduct used every racist dog whistle – fear of incarceration, fear of the government and fear of one’s benefits being taken away – to steal the most fundamental right that we often take for granted: the right to vote,” and the Department of Attorney General added that her office would monitor the defendants during their probationary period.
