MILWAUKEE (CN) — A former Milwaukee elections official convicted of electoral fraud was sentenced to a stayed jailed sentence and thousands of dollars in fines on Thursday.
Kimberly Zapata, 47, was found guilty of one misconduct in public office felony and three election fraud misdemeanors at her jury trial in March. Prosecutors argued that, just ahead of the 2022 midterms, she used fake voter information and her governmental access to send three military absentee ballots to a Republican lawmaker who has signal-boosted election conspiracy theories.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to all the charges. Zapata’s attorney Dan Adams portrayed her as a whistleblower intending to draw attention away from far-out conspiracy theories and toward concrete issues with election administration.
At the conclusion of a 40-minute sentencing hearing on Thursday, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Kori Ashley sentenced Zapata to 9 months’ jail time stayed for 12 months of probation and 120 hours of community service for the misconduct felony, finding no need for immediate imprisonment. Zapata received a $1,000 fine for each of the three election fraud misdemeanors.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Westphal reiterated at sentencing that Zapata was not a whistleblower, but a public employee who violated the public’s trust and committed fraud amid already fraught tensions surrounding mis- and dis-information about voter fraud.
Westphal noted that, at the time of Zapata’s crimes, misinformation about elections had already led to “a violent insurrection” in Washington, referring to the attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of former President Donald Trump on January 6, 2021.
Calling Zapata’s actions “an extremely serious offense” and “an attack on our electoral system,” the prosecutor recommended a 12-month sentence for the misconduct felony and 60 days of concurrent jail time for each election fraud misdemeanor to be stayed for 18 months’ probation plus community service.
Adams argued that it would be unjust to send his client to jail and held that she had not even committed fraud, much less subverted the system or spread misinformation or conspiracies. He called Zapata’s conduct “a fairly silly thing” and a “paradox.”
“She stepped out of the rules to draw attention to a gap in the rules,” he said.
In a memo to the court Adams filed on Zapata’s behalf before sentencing, the defense attorney discussed that Zapata is autistic, which can make her fixated and obsessive on things, including following rules, and helps explain her actions.
The defense attorney called his client’s neurodivergence “a big part of this case” that could not be presented at trial because of “rules regarding mental health being an issue not for the jury.”
Adams derided Westphal’s invocation of the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol after Trump’s speech at The Ellipse in Washington in 2021 when talking about his client’s offenses.
“I take great umbrage at lumping my client in with those people,” Adams said, adding that they could not have a more different mindset about the country than Zapata.
Addressing the court before she was sentenced, Zapata choked back tears, took responsibility and expressed regret for her actions, which she said stemmed from a “complete emotional breakdown.” She also touched on her autism spectrum disorder, which she said causes her to “have difficulty regulating [her] emotions, sensory input and thought processes” when stressed.
“I now recognize my actions did not match my best intentions … I don’t wish to be forever attached to what I did in that eight-minute window of my life,” she said.
In meting out Zapata’s sentence, Ashley, who presided over Zapata’s trial, expressed that she was troubled that not only did the defendant commit her crimes as a public employee, but a high ranking one charged with overseeing absentee voting.
"I don't view this as a whistleblower case. I think you had legitimate means to go about solving the issue that you identified, and I think you took a shortcut,” which is often how crime happens, Ashley said.
But the judge also said she did not believe there was any “nefarious intent” in Zapata’s offenses, and she was cautious not to attribute more responsibility to Zapata than necessary for the fraught climate around elections and voter fraud.
Speaking to reporters after sentencing, Adams signaled that Zapata would file an appeal, but the appeal would be over questions of law in the case, not the sentence. Adams declined to elaborate about what issues exactly would be appealed.
Under current law and Wisconsin Elections Commission rules, military and overseas ballots can be requested and received without presenting photo ID.
Adams called on Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, and Republican leaders of the Wisconsin Legislature to fix this loophole with legislation, like a bipartisan 2023 bill from this past legislative session that failed to pass.
As is customary for convicted felons, Zapata will not be able to vote in any election until she fully serves her sentence.
Follow @cnsjkelly
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
