{Hamlin, West Virginia}...U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin filed a charge Tuesday morning in federal court against Lincoln County Commissioner 32 year old Thomas Ramey, Jr., alleging that, around February 7, 2012, Ramey told an FBI agent he did not know who altered certain absentee ballot applications from the 2010 primary election in the Lincoln County Clerk's Office. Goodwin says Ramey caused someone else to alter the applications and was present when they were altered. Ramey was charged as part of a federal information which generally means the defendant is cooperating with the U.S. Attorney's Office. Ramey is the third Lincoln County official named in the vote fraud investigation. Former county sheriff Jerry Bowman and county clerk Donald Whitten have already pleaded guilty. If convicted, Ramey faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
