Reference no: EM131674804

Question: Chester Jones was the committee chairman of the Perry County Democratic Party and a candidate for the Perry County school board. Jones used money given to the Kentucky Democratic Party to hand out 75 $100 checks to Perry County voters in an effort to persuade families to vote for Jones and Neace. In 2009, a grand jury in the Eastern District of Kentucky charged Jones with one count of aiding and abetting mail fraud and one count of conspiring to commit mail fraud and vote buying. Jones signed a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting mail fraud. The district court then sentenced Jones to 12 months' imprisonment. After Jones's conviction, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Skilling v. United States narrowed the scope of "honest services" fraud. Jones then contested that he wanted to vacate his conviction in the aftermath of the Skilling case. Jones argued that he had pleaded guilty to "conduct that has been determined by the Supreme Court not to be a crime." The court affirmed the district court's decision. Do you agree with the court's affirmation? Why or why not?