Election fraud prosecution hits a snag with no-shows

City Councilmember Mohammed Hassan (left) will continue to face felony election charges in Wayne County Circuit Court, but Councilmember Muhtasin Sadman received a major break after two witnesses failed to appear at his preliminary examination. File photo

By Charles Sercombe
Election fraud charges against two Hamtramck City Councilmembers had different outcomes in the last week.
City Councilmember Mohammed Hassan will continue to face charges. But the outcome for Councilmember Muhtasin Sadman, who is in his first term, was far different.
Last week, after a short preliminary examination in Hamtramck 31st District Court, Judge Alexis Krot ruled that the evidence warrants Hassan to face further legal proceedings in Wayne County Circuit.
Hassan faces felony charges of:
• Forging a signature on an absentee ballot application
• Election law forgery
• False statement on an absentee ballot application
If convicted, he faces a sentence of five years in prison. The charges go back to the 2023 election in Hamtramck’s council race.
In his pre-examination last week, Zerin Sultana testified that Hassan forged her name on a ballot.
His next court appearance will be in Wayne County Circuit Court.
On Monday, the prosecution’s case against Councilmember Sadman, who faces similar charges, came apart – at least for the moment. The four felony charges against him were dropped because two key witnesses both failed to show up and testify.
The charges that were dismissed include:
• Forging signature on an absentee ballot application
• Election law forgery
• Unqualified elector attempting to vote
• Unqualified elector attempting to vote
These charges also came with the threat of a five-year prison sentence.

City Councilmember Muhtasin Sadman

But Sadman still faces a misdemeanor charge of making a false statement in an application for an absentee ballot, which will be heard on Nov. 6, at 9 a.m. in Hamtramck 31st District Court.
Although the felony charges were dismissed, they can be reinstated at a later date.
Sadman’s bond was also reduced from $7,500 to $500.
Both cases are being prosecuted by the Monroe Prosecutor’s Office, and County Prosecutor Jeffery Yorkey said his office is considering whether to pursue legal charges and arrest warrants against the witnesses to compel them to testify.
The Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office got involved after state Attorney General Dana Nessel decided to bow out of handling the cases (after her office conducted an investigation), and asked for a special prosecutor in the state to take over the matter.
There are those in the state who speculated that the matter had become a political hot potato for Nessel, who reportedly has higher political ambitions after she is termed out this year.
The Review previously reached out to Mayor Amer Ghalib, who has repeatedly accused former city administrations of corruption, for comment on the election charges but he did not respond.
Former Mayor Karen Majewski told The Review that, “The commonly held belief that elections here are decided through fraud undermines our system in so many ways — not just by unfairly seating people in public office, but by convincing honest people that it’s pointless to run for office, and by discouraging voters from participating in the process at all.”
On social media, the court of public opinion was in session.
“The honorable thing to do would be for both of them to resign. This is ridiculous already,” said Bernadette Kopytko.
Mo Reeves called for more public outrage.
“We should march for justice and demand jail time for those who committed fraud against the city and its residents,” Reeves said.
Before his court hearing on Monday, Sadman called for a “March for Justice” to city hall.
It did not appear anyone heeded the call.
But it did ruffle some feathers among social media commenters. In response, Sadman posted “LOL” – which stands of “laugh out loud.”
Bernadette Kopytko once again weighed in, saying: “Muhtasin Rahman Sadman why do you find breaking the law amusing and still feel it respectful to represent our city?”
As for any further legal cases involving election fraud, Monroe County Prosecutor Yorkey told The Review that his office is reviewing allegations that two councilmembers do not actually live in Hamtramck, and that some people were caught on city hall’s surveillance camera stuffing ballots in a drop box in the weeks leading up to the primary election this past August.
“We’re looking at everything, and anything,” Yorkey said. “We’re doing everything we can.”
Posted Oct. 24, 2025