#michael sona

Politics

Robocaller Michael Sona out on bail pending appeal of election fraud conviction

Michael Sona, the former Conservative staffer convicted last month in the 2011 robocalls scandal, has been granted bail pending an appeal of his conviction and sentence. Crown lawyer Nick Devlin confirmed the Ontario Court of Appeal decision Monday. The Crown contested Sona's bail application last week, but agreed it would be worthwhile for the Appeals Court to review whether his nine-month sentence was appropriate. The bail hearing focused only on Sona's intention to appeal his sentence, although his lawyer Howard Krongold said on Friday that he also plans to contest the conviction. Appeal Court Justice Harry LaForme said in his decision that he granted Sona bail because the process of appealing the sentence could take almost as long, if not longer, than the nine-month jail term itself.

In this case—a case of a sentencing without precedent and where there are arguable grounds of appeal—Mr. Sona ought to have an opportunity to have this court consider the fitness of his sentence before he is required to serve it.

Justice Harry LaForme

Sona was the only person to be charged after some 6,700 automated phone calls were placed on the morning of the 2011 federal election with misleading information on how to vote. Sona had been in jail since Nov. 19, when he was convicted under the Canada Elections Act of wilfully preventing or endeavouring to prevent an elector from voting. Krongold argued Sona's sentence was unnecessarily harsh, given that he's already suffered considerably in the aftermath of his arrest. As a young first-time offender with good rehabilitation prospects, Sona deserved a shorter jail term, he argued, noting that Sona's life has been turned upside down and irreparably damaged by the charges and the trial, to say nothing of the conviction. LaForme agreed that Sona has had to endure more stress than the typical first-time offender.

Mr. Sona has been subjected to more than the usual ignominy of a public trial and conviction.

Politics

Michael Sona seeks bail, will launch appeal of robocalls conviction

The former Conservative staffer convicted in the 2011 robocalls scandal will have to spend another few days in jail before learning if he'll be granted bail pending an appeal of his sentence. The Crown contested Michael Sona's bail application on Friday, but agreed it would be worthwhile for Ontario's Court of Appeal to review whether his nine-month sentence is appropriate. Crown attorney Nick Devlin argued that Justice Gary Hearn made no legal errors in convicting or sentencing Sona and bail should not be granted. "This is one of those rare offences where he's actually done some damage to the fabric of society," Devlin said.

This one resonated, I think, with Canadians across the country because they all imagined (being) the person who at the end of a very busy day, juggling all their work and family commitments, went to vote and went to the wrong place because of this.

Nick Devlin, Crown attorney

Sona has been in jail since last Wednesday, when he was convicted under the Canada Elections Act of wilfully preventing or endeavouring to prevent an elector from voting. While Friday's hearing focused on an appeal of his sentence, Sona also wants to appeal his conviction. Sona was the only person to be charged after some 6,700 automated phone calls were placed on the morning of the 2011 federal election with misleading information on how to vote. Sona's lawyer, Howard Krongold, said an appeal without bail would be of no good to his client. Sona has already suffered considerably and his experience serves as a strong deterrent for others who might consider committing election fraud, Krongold said. Krongold also intends to argue that Sona was penalized in his sentencing for not showing any remorse, even though he maintains his innocence.

Quite frankly, he's been front page news; his life has been completely devastated and turned upside down.

Politics

Robocalls: Ex-Tory staffer Michael Sona sentenced to nine months in prison

Michael Sona, the former Conservative staffer convicted in the 2011 robocalls scandal, has been sentenced to nine months behind bars. He will also spend 12 months on probation as part of what Justice Gary Hearn called a "difficult and troubling sentence." Sona was found guilty of wilfully preventing or endeavouring to prevent an elector from voting, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The Crown had wanted Sona, 26, to spend at least a year-and-a-half in jail for his role in the successful plot to misdirect voters on the morning of the 2011 federal election. Sona hung his head and typed on a BlackBerry, his family members beside him in tears, as Hearn delivered his decision.

Thousands of automated phone calls went out to citizens in and around Guelph on May 2, 2011, with incorrect information on where to vote. Liberal supporters received most of the calls.

The Canadian Press reports

During the 2011 federal election, an unidentified person used the fake names Pierre Poutine and Pierre Jones, untraceable prepaid credit cards, and a disposable cellphone to order the automated telephone campaign that misled voters, the court heard. Crown attorney Croft Michaelson asked for a harsh sentence in order to send a message to anyone who might consider committing election fraud. Sona's lawyer, Norm Boxall, recommended a suspended sentence or a six- to 12-month conditional sentence with house arrest, parole and a requirement to complete community service. Boxall elected to call no witnesses in Sona's defence, arguing that the Crown failed to definitively identify a culprit in the scheme. He argued that the Crown's star witness—Andrew Prescott, a colleague of Sona's who had previous experience with ordering robocalls—was a more likely suspect.

Prescott testified against Sona in exchange for immunity, but even Michaelson acknowledged his side of the story 'should probably be approached with caution.'

Politics

Guilty: Former Tory staffer faces up to five years in prison over robocalls

Former Conservative Party staffer Michael Sona has been convicted of trying to prevent voters from casting ballots during the 2011 federal election. Sona, 25, who worked on the campaign of Conservative Guelph candidate Marty Burke, was the only person charged in what has come to be known as the robocalls scandal, in which automated calls were set up to target voters in Guelph—most of them Liberal supporters—with misleading instructions on where to vote. After a long recounting of the trial's testimony, Superior Court Justice Gary Hearn said he was convinced "well beyond a reasonable doubt" that Sona was guilty. Conservative Party spokesman Cory Hann was quick to react to the verdict.

Voter suppression is extremely serious and those responsible should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. That's why we reached out to Elections Canada when we heard of wrongdoing in Guelph and did all we could to assist them.

Cory Hann, Conservative Party spokesman, who adds, "as we've said all along, the Conservative Party ran a clean and ethical campaign."

According to Toronto Star, Andrew Prescott, the deputy campaign manager for Burke's campaign, alleged that on the morning of the election, Sona emerged from his desk excitedly saying "it's working." Sona could face up to five years in prison when sentencing begins in October, though he does have the option to appeal the guilty verdict. Robocalls were also the subject of a court challenge led by the Council of Canadians in 2013, in an attempt to overturn the election results in at least six ridings won narrowly by Tory candidates. Last May, Federal Court Judge Richard Mosley ruled that while phone calls were used to misdirect voters in the last federal election, they had minimal impact on the outcome. In response to Thursday's court decision, the Council of Canadians said that this isn't over.

Remember: this didn’t just happen in Guelph. The prime minister still needs to answer some serious questions. Did someone close to the prime minister authorize the use of CIMS for voter suppression in the 2011 election? If not, who did?

NOTE: This video is a fake. And that's where things start to get weird.

Canada's federal Conservative party is facing allegations of electoral fraud and an investigation by Elections Canada over, among other things, a series of robocalls purporting to be from EC directing people to incorrect or non-existent polling places (full coverage here and here). These calls appear to be connected to the Conservative campaign in Guelph, Ontario. A campaign worker named Michael Sona (who made news during the campaign for disrupting a voting station) stepped down immediately as the news was breaking, but maintains that he was not involved.

This video of Sona confessing his actions showed up on YouTube yesterday—except it appears that it's not him. This is a picture of Michael Sona:

(He's the one on the left.) While there is a resemblance, it's not a particularly good one. In fact, there's a better resemblance to this guy:

Who's that, you ask? His name's Brett Warren. That picture is from his Deadspin (!) profile of two years ago, "Tough-Talking Gators Fan Might Be Legally Prohibited From Attending Game". Now you're probably thinking "Oh, that's just crazy. There's no way the fake Michael Sona is some deranged Gators fan." However, the video was posted by a YouTube user named sorryche3—and Warren used the "sorryche" moniker to post the "tough-talking" video mentioned in the Deadspin article. That video has since been made private, but the coverage by ABC's Birmingham affiliate is still available.

I know. None of this makes any sense but it seems to be the prevailing wisdom, even among the journalists covering the story. In short: A Gators fan is impersonating a junior staffer in the Conservative Party of Canada who's currently implicated in a major elections fraud scandal. Why? Andew Coyne of the National Post asked if he'd run out of 'Bama fans to annoy. That seems about as good an explanation as any.

According to this Angus-Reid poll, 50% of Canadians agree (with 37% disagreeing) that “Every riding that was the subject of misleading robocalls should have a by-election as soon as possible.”

Other findings:

- 81% want an independent investigation to find out exactly who was behind any misleading robocalls that may have been made in the May 2011 federal election

- 64% think the Guelph incident is “probably’ or “definitely” one of many that took place in the last campaign.