Stockton City Council candidate Desiree Lynch was arrested Wednesday on multiple felony charges related to perjury and election fraud.
According to San Joaquin County Jail records, Lynch was booked just after 10 a.m. on five felony counts, including perjury, voter registration violation and the false filing of a declaration of candidacy.
Her arrest comes just 24 hours after announcing she would continue her campaign to unseat District 5 Councilmember Brando Villapudua this November. Four days earlier, Lynch announced she would no longer be campaigning following accusations circulating online that she had lied about her residency.
Councilmembers must live in the district they represent. District 5 encompasses south central Stockton.
Neither the Sheriff’s Office nor the Stockton Police Department were involved in Lynch’s arrest, according to law enforcement officials. Sheriff’s spokesperson Heather Brent told Stocktonia the investigation was being handled by the District Attorney’s Office.
San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas said in a statement that Lynch’s arrest was the culmination of a six-week investigation by the San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office’s Bureau of Investigations into potential public corruption following a referral from the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office after the June primary.
The DA’s Bureau of Investigations operates independently of other local law enforcement agencies. According to the DA’s website, it handles a range of specialized investigations, including suspected misconduct involving government officials, public employees and local agencies.
“The charges allege that Lynch perjured herself by registering to vote and filing as a candidate using residential addresses where she did not live,” the DA said in the statement.
Lynch is alleged to have committed perjury three times: on or about Nov. 10, Feb. 5 and March 2. She also is facing charges of “causing, procuring, or allowing false voter registration” and “filling a false nomination or declaration of candidacy” on or about Nov. 10 of last year, through and including Aug. 17.
“District Attorney investigators determined that Lynch was actually residing in Lodi and North Stockton, which is City Council District 1, not District 5, as she claimed on her official voter registration and candidate filing paperwork,” according to the statement from the DA’s Office.
The DA’s statement alleges that Lynch used two fraudulent addresses on her candidate paperwork: Harry’s Cocktail Lounge on East Charter Way and at the Doyle Garden Apartments on East Oak Street.
Stocktonia’s attempts to reach the owners of Harry’s Cocktail Lounge were unsuccessful. The lounge appeared to be closed Wednesday afternoon, although hours of operation listed online show the establishment is open from mid-morning to late evening, seven days a week.
The onsite management office for Doyle Garden Apartments also appeared to be closed Wednesday afternoon, and no one answered the door of the apartment that Lynch listed as her residence on election paperwork.
Erin Haight, a spokesperson for the DA’s Office, said Lynch, a registered nurse, was released from custody after being booked into the county jail.
Her arraignment, which had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon, was moved to Sept. 2. Lynch did not immediately respond to a request for comment following her release.
If convicted on all counts, the District Attorney’s Office says Lynch faces a maximum of six years and eight months in prison.
Freitas called Lynch’s actions “continued” and “deliberate.”
“The integrity of our elections is the bedrock of our democratic process, and we must ensure that every election is run fairly and without fraud,” he said in a statement. “The constituents of this community deserve a representative who actually lives in their neighborhoods, not an opportunist manufacturing a fake address to cheat the system.”
Residency questioned in weeks leading to arrest
Lynch announced late Friday she was withdrawing from the City Council race, citing concerns about her safety, the safety of her family and her health.
But four days later, she reversed course.
In a text sent to Stocktonia on Tuesday evening, she said, “This campaign is bigger than me,” adding that she would “not be intimidated out of this race.”
“I will not be bullied into silence, and I will not back down,” Lynch said. “What I have experienced has tested me and my family in ways I never expected, but it has also strengthened my resolve.”
Legally, Lynch never left the race. Her name would have remained on the Nov. 3 ballot whether she was actively campaigning or not.
Her initial decision to withdraw followed weeks of public questions over whether she lived at the Stockton address she listed while running for office.
Former Stockton Mayor Anthony Silva has publicly alleged Lynch does not live in District 5, citing videos recorded inside an East Oak Street apartment listed on her campaign paperwork and a property record associated with her at an address in Lodi.
Stocktonia reviewed Lynch’s candidate paperwork, which lists an East Oak Street apartment as her residence and has not independently verified whether she resided there during the campaign qualifying period. Lynch was asked last week to address questions about her residency and provide documentation supporting it, but did not respond.
Lynch and Vice Mayor Jason Lee instead raised concerns about how Silva and former Vice Mayor Ralph White gained access to the apartment. In a July 28 news release, Lee called on the Stockton Police Department to investigate what he described as the unlawful entry into Lynch’s home.
Lynch said in the release that having her home entered, filmed and publicly exposed left her feeling “deeply violated and unsafe.”
At the time, she said she would not be intimidated and remained committed to her campaign. She filed for a temporary restraining order against Silva and White on July 29. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday in the case in San Joaquin County Superior Court.
Stocktonia has not independently verified the circumstances under which White and Silva are alleged to have entered the apartment.
Villapudua and Mayor Christina Fugazi asked for investigations into the question of Lynch’s residency, and Fugazi wanted the investigation to continue, regardless of Lynch’s status in the race.
“If our procedures failed, we need to know how they failed,” the mayor said. “If information was inaccurate, we need to understand how it entered the process. If our verification standards were inadequate or inconsistently applied, they need to be corrected.”
Villapudua declined to comment to Stocktonia on Wednesday about the charges against Lynch, saying only he had not been aware his opponent had been arrested.
Lee, who endorsed Lynch in the District 5 race, said Wednesday that the charges are serious and should be handled through a “full and fair legal process.” He said his standard remains to “follow the facts, follow the law, and hold people accountable when wrongdoing is established,” regardless of who is involved.
The District Attorney’s Office is asking anyone with information regarding the case to contact the DA’s Bureau of Investigations at (209) 468-3620.
Anyone who believes they have witnessed or suspect election fraud are also being encouraged to make a report directly to a local law enforcement agency, the Sheriff’s Office or the DA’s Public Integrity Unit at (209) 468-2400. Anonymous tips regarding election fraud can be submitted to Stockton Crime Stoppers at (209) 946-0600.
This is a developing story. Check back with Stocktonia for more updates.