Councilman indicted on election fraud
Published: July 8, 2009
Updated: July 8, 2009
Manassas Park City Council member Peter Farrell was indicted this week on a charge of election fraud.
The indictment, handed up by a grand jury in Prince William Circuit Court, charges that Farrell lied about being a resident of Manassas Park.
A grand jury indictment means that prosecutors have enough evidence to take a case to trial. It is not a finding of guilt or innocence.
Election fraud is a class five felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, up to 12 months in jail or a fine of up to $2,500.
“The basis of the charge is that he is not a resident of the city of Manassas Park and he said that he was,” Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert said Wednesday.
Farrell, 51, a Democrat, was elected to the city council in November.
Reached by phone Wednesday, Farrell said he is waiting to receive more information about the charge from prosecutors.
“I am still trying to understand what the indictment is about,” Farrell said.
He said he could not comment further until he had more information.
When asked if he was a resident of Manassas Park, Farrell said, “It’s inappropriate at this time to answer that question.”
Farrell said he currently plans to remain on the city council.
Manassas Park Mayor Frank Jones and other city council members did not immediately return calls seeking comment Wednesday.
Farrell owns a business in Manassas Park, Peter Farrell Supercars Inc., on Manassas Drive.
Staff writer Bennie Scarton can be reached at 703-369-6707. Staff writer Amanda Stewart can be reached at 703-878-8014.
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Reader Reactions
How is it that gay marriage, the war in iraq, and drug legalization have anything to do with the topic at hand? I realize those are probably your pet issues, SmartAnon, but they really don’t have much to do with the topic, much as apples don’t have much to do with oranges.
Why would I want someone representing me on City Council who doesn’t even want to live in the City? I guess Potomac, MD is more to Farrell’s liking—he can go run for office there.
Smartanon… I live in Manassas Park. My property taxes are INSANELY high when compared to the surrounding county. I do NOT want some nitwit who doesn’t have to pay them to have the power to raise them higher. Besides, we all know why the guy ran in the first place… because the city wouldn’t prove the sign for his strip mall.
Do you really not understand why someone should live in the area they run for elected office in?
Do you really not understand why someone should not falsify information to say that they do when they really do not?
One question for you, “SmartAnon”...do you actually live in Manassas Park?
I do, and this sort of stuff does not help the image of this city one bit. This stuff affects me directly.
just because the gov’t designates something as a major crime to THEM doesn’t mean it should be. One example: drug use. Just because pot is illegal and people have been put away for life because of drug offenses doesn’t make it right necessarily. Another example, gay marriage. OH yea and sodomy is technically a crime too but does that mean it should be? Think for yourself, don’t just go by the government rules/regulations/laws about what class something falls under. Its all labels anyway. According to this article, the guy lied about where he lived. not so major in my opinion….people do it more than you’d think. Lemme guess brian703….your a repub right?
Minute? Maybe you think this is minute. I don’t happen to think that a Class 5 Felony charge is “minute”, nor do I think the effects of this on the people who live in MP is or are going to be “minute”.
I’m sick and tired of the shenanigans that continually happen in MP. This is more of the same.
i meant to say i’m NOT justifying it not just justifying it..sorry typo
You’re right brian703..i’ll agree with you about that. i’m just justifying it…My response was a reponse to those ppl pointing fingers talking about how shady/“bad” democrats are when their party is no better. politics are shady in general but this was minute compared to a lot of other things republicans have done….look at the war in iraq for example. yea, yea, yeah…i know you republicans will deny it until the day you die but it was all over oil and about controlling the world/trade routes…NOT helping the people there. so stop putting the democrats down b/c at least we care about being humane.
Bad behavior is never an excuse for more bad behavior. It does not impress me when someone says, “Well, gee, what I did wasn’t so bad because the other guy did…..“
wow, really?! You republicans never pass up a chance to insult and put down your opposition (or anybody who’s not white/rich for that matter). Before you start talking about democrats being shady…take a look at your own political party’s history. One word: WATERGATE. this is NOTHING compared to that…so stop pointing fingers.
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