Eight Arrested in Phillips County Over 2024 Justice of the Peace Election Fraud

Lita Moore Johnson, the sitting Phillips County District 9 Justice of the Peace who won the runoff in 2024, was arrested and charged with two counts of solicitation to commit perjury, a class D felony, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced Tuesday. She was joined by seven other Phillips County residents, each facing felony perjury charges, in what prosecutors described as a coordinated scheme to manipulate a local election.

All eight suspects recently turned themselves in after agents in the AG's Special Investigations Division obtained warrants for their arrest on felony charges related to the runoff for the Phillips County Justice of the Peace seat for District 9. Johnson, 62, a teacher at Marvell School District, was arrested after evidence was submitted that she told multiple voters to illegally change the address on their voter registration so they could vote for her in the runoff.

The seven other individuals were charged with perjury, a class C felony, for fraudulently changing their address on an Arkansas Voter Registration Application. Each of them voted in the precinct corresponding with the District 9 Justice of the Peace runoff despite their actual address dictating that they vote elsewhere.

Those seven are: Mearion Armstrong, 68, retired; Cordelia Foster, 60, an elementary teacher at KIPP Public School in Helena; Shirley Hicks, 56, a custodian at Barton School District; Jasean Smith, 30, a teacher at Central High School in Helena and the pastor of Galilee Church; Adam Swopes, 26, a lieutenant with the Arkansas Department of Corrections; Rachel Gamble Sykes, 56, Arkansas Crime Information Center coordinator for the Phillips County Sheriff's Office; and Jocelyn Washington, 39, who works at the Phillips County Development Center.

The span of occupations among those charged is notable. The group includes school employees across multiple district campuses in Phillips County and Helena, a state corrections officer, a law enforcement data coordinator embedded within the Phillips County Sheriff's Office itself, and a retiree. Swopes' position with the Arkansas Department of Corrections and Gamble Sykes' role coordinating crime information for the Sheriff's Office may draw additional scrutiny from their respective employers in the days ahead.

Attorney General Griffin credited two units within his office for bringing the cases forward. "Keeping Arkansas's elections the most secure in the country requires vigilance and perseverance, and I am pleased to see these individuals held accountable for their actions. I am grateful for the outstanding work done on these cases by my Special Investigations Division and Special Prosecutions Division," Griffin said.

Johnson is the sitting District 9 Justice of the Peace, and it remains unclear whether she has been suspended from that seat or whether the 2024 election result is subject to any formal challenge. No statements from Johnson, the other defendants, or their attorneys had been made public as of Wednesday. The AG's office has not specified how the investigation was initiated or whether any related activity in other races is under review.