Former AD 30 candidate pleads no contest to felony election fraud

SALINAS, Calif. (KION) Neil Kitchens, the 2018 candidate for Assembly District 30, has pleaded no contest to filing a false declaration of candidacy in that election. It is a felony charge.

To be eligible for AD 30, Kitchens would need to be a California resident for three years, a resident of the district for one year and a registered voter in the district when nomination papers were filed.

Investigators said they found that Kitchens did not live in District 30, but lived in Prunedale, which is in District 29. The investigation began as a result of a citizen complaint.

"Kitchens knowingly filed falsified candidacy papers and listed a Salinas address as his residence so that he would be eligible for the seat. By doing so, he perpetrated a fraud upon the approximately 460,000 voters in District 30," the Monterey County District Attorney's Office said in a statement.

Kitchens is expected to be sentenced to felony probation in January, but the charge carries a maximum punishment of three years in jail. He will also be sentenced for an unrelated misdemeanor DUI.