Breaking news … Councilmember found guilty of election misdemeanor charge

By Charles Sercombe
City Councilmember Mohammed Hassan was spared from being found guilty of two felony charges involving election fraud.
But he was found guilty of a misdemeanor charge of making a false statement on Wednesday in a Wayne County Circuit Court jury trial. He faces a penalty of 90 days in jail.
Hassan went through a three-day trial that started on Monday.
The jury, of mixed race and gender, took about three hours for deliberations.
The verdict spares Hassan from possibly facing a five-year prison term.
A Michigan State Police forensics expert testified that Hassan had forged the signature of a voter.
But Hassan’s attorney, Scott Ruark, said that, despite the evidence, the prosecutor failed to do “what the law requires of them, which is to prove every element of every charge beyond a reasonable doubt.”
The case was prosecuted by the Monroe County Prosecutor’s office, which stepped in to take over the case after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel bowed out from prosecuting the matter, due to a conflict of interest, and asked for another prosecutor’s office in the state to handle the case.
The charges stem from the 2023 election. Hassan was charged with forging ballots.
Hassan consistently denied any wrongdoing.
He is the second councilmember to face charges involving election fraud. First-term Councilmember Muhtasin Sadman previously pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of loitering about an illegal business.
He was originally charged with making a false statement in an application for an absentee ballot.
The charge was connected with his election in 2023.
Posted July 1, 2026