CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Former Charlotte mayor Patrick Cannon accepted a plea agreement Wednesday afternoon to a lesser charge of attempting voter fraud.
Cannon walked into court in Mecklenburg County shortly afternoon and shook his attorney's hand.
He then faced a judge and pleaded guilty to attempted voting without having rights of citizenship restored. He will get one day active to run concurrently with his Federal sentence. Cannon will not spend any extra days in jail.
Patrick Cannon walks into court smiles at his attorney and shakes his hand
— Glenn Counts WCNC (@gcountswcnc) March 16, 2016
Cannon is currently incarcerated in federal prison. He was sentenced in October 2014 to serve 44 months in federal prison related to corruption allegations. The sentence was part of a plea agreement in which Cannon pleaded guilty to one count of honest services wire fraud, which carried a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Cannon was also ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and a forfeiture in the amount of $50,000.
The voter fraud charge stems from the fact that Cannon was a convicted felon at the time he placed his early vote on October 30, 2014. At the time, Cannon was under house arrest and was awaiting the date he had to turn himself in to prison.
