FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE :     Tuesday, August 18, 2015
CONTACT:  Sara Rabern (605)773-3215   

  
 
Harrold Woman Pleads Guilty to Perjury for Election Law Violations
 

PIERRE, S.D –   Attorney General Marty Jackley announced today that Janice Howe, Harrold, 54, has pled guilty to one count of perjury. Perjury, at the time of the allegations occurred, was a class 5 felony, punishable by up to five years in the state penitentiary and or $5,000 fine.

Charges stem from the circulation and attempted filing of petition sheets on a petition to amend the Constitution.  Howe was charged by Complaint on January 31, 2002. The charges allege that Howe verified under oath that she had personally witnessed signatures on the petition sheets when she had not. Howe was arrested in July 2015 on an arrest warrant issued after the filing of the complaint. Two other individuals were charged with similar offenses relating to the same petition. Their cases have been resolved through the judicial system.

Sentencing is scheduled for October 6, 2015 at 1:15 p.m. at the Hughes County Courthouse.
 
The case was investigated by the Division of Criminal Investigation and prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office.
 

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