Two Hamtramck City Council members face serious election fraud charges after prosecutors say they worked with others to illegally obtain and fill out absentee ballots during the 2023 city council election.
Hamramck is an autonomous city contained largely within the city of Detroit, and has been dominated by the Democrat-controlled Motor City’s politics.
Monroe County Prosecutor Jeffery Yorkey, a Republican serving as special prosecutor, filed multiple felony and misdemeanor charges against councilmembers Mohammed Hassan, 57, and Muhtasin Sadman, 26, following a months-long investigation by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office.
State prosecutors allege that six people total worked together during the 2023 election to receive blank absentee ballots that had been signed by recently naturalized citizens in the immigrant-heavy Hamramck. The conspirators would then allegedly fill in the candidates they wanted, bypassing the voters’ actual choices, authorities said.
Hamramck was the center of a debate in 2004 when a campaign was made to use city speakers to broadcast an Islamic call to prayer. The city most recently made national news in 2013 after it became the United States first Muslim-majority city, thanks to an influx of immigrants over the past two decades from countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Hassan faces four charges: election law forgery, two counts of unqualified elector attempting to vote, forging a signature on an absentee ballot application, and providing a false statement in an application for an absentee ballot.
Sadman is charged with five counts: election law forgery, forging a signature on an absentee ballot application, providing a false statement on an absentee ballot application, two counts of unqualified elector attempting to vote, and forgery.
The charges carry severe penalties. The felony counts could result in up to five years in prison and substantial fines, while the misdemeanor charges carry potential jail time of up to 90 days and additional fines.
The investigation began in March when Attorney General Nessel requested a special prosecutor to examine allegations involving four current council members and one former member in what prosecutors called a “conspiracy to unlawfully obtain access to absentee ballots with the intent to illegally vote the ballots.” The probe covered the period from July 1 to November 7, 2023.
The scheme unraveled when the city clerk noticed suspicious patterns with absentee ballots, including identical handwriting on multiple envelopes and large bundles of ballots submitted at once, prosecutors said. The clerk discovered irregularities in absentee ballots in late 2023 and was advised by City Manager Max Garbarino to report the findings to Hamtramck police.
The charges represent a significant escalation in what has become a broader corruption scandal within Hamtramck city government. Hassan and Sadman, along with other city leaders, were already named in a lawsuit filed earlier this year by City Manager Garbarino and Hamtramck Special Investigator David Adamczyk.
The lawsuit alleges corruption and violations of the Michigan Whistleblower Protection Act and Open Meetings Act. According to the legal filing, Garbarino originally received complaints that city leaders were improperly helping people with ballots and entering restricted areas during the election period.
After the investigation reached the Attorney General’s office, council members allegedly retaliated against those who reported the irregularities. The lawsuit claims Hassan, Sadman, and other council members harassed Garbarino and the city clerk, attempting to force Garbarino to fire the clerk who had discovered the ballot problems.
Both Hassan and Sadman continue to serve on the city council despite the criminal charges.