A Grover Beach woman who ran as a write-in candidate for county supervisor was sentenced Monday to 90 days in jail.
The jail time was half of what the San Luis Obispo County Probation Department recommended in a pre-sentence report for Michelle Morrow.
In the 2024 March 5 Primary Election, Morrow ran as a write-in candidate for the San Luis Obispo County District 3 Supervisor seat and also voted in District 3; however, she reportedly lived in District 4.
Incumbent Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg won that race. Morrow received just 7% of the vote.
Morrow was originally charged with four felony counts and pleaded no contest in November to felony charges of filing false nomination papers and fraudulent voting.
As part of her plea agreement, charges of voter registration fraud and perjury were dismissed.
Morrow faced two years of supervised felony probation and up to 180 days in county jail.
The sentence handed down Monday was 90 days in county jail and two years of felony probation.
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office reports Deputy District Attorney Ben Blumenthal “did not argue for a specific amount of jail” but did submit the following on the probation department’s recommendation: “I want to make crystal clear, Ms. Morrow was not prosecuted because of her political beliefs, or her platform. Ms. Morrow was prosecuted because she deliberately and repeatedly lied to the voters of San Luis Obispo County in an unlawful attempt to get elected to a position she knew she was not legally qualified to hold."
The DA’s Public Integreity Unit handled the investigation. Founded in 2015, the unit has a mission “to hold elected officials, public employees, and candidates for office accountable to the rules and laws that govern them.”
