A former Connecticut lawmaker who had been charged with election fraud for allegedly voting in a district where she did not live has pleaded guilty to lying to investigators, but avoided prison time.
Christina Ayala on Friday received a one-year suspended sentence and was barred from running for public office for two years.
Ayala pleaded guilty to providing false statements to the State Elections Enforcement Commission in the course of its investigation. She was initially arrested a year ago on eight counts of fraudulent voting, ten counts of primary or enrollment violations, and one count of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
Ayala was first elected the state House of Representatives in 2012 and was defeated in a primary last year.