Special prosecutor still reviewing election allegations

By Charles Sercombe
The Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office has agreed to review allegations that four city councilmembers, a former councilmember and a resident violated state election law in 2023.
And, word has trickled down that the prosecutor, Jeffery Yorkey, a Republican, is about to make an announcement on whether his office will file charges.
The following people are being investigated:
• City Councilmembers Mohammed Hassan, Muhtasin Sadman, Mohammed Alsomiri and Abu Musa
• Former councilmember Nayeem Choudhury
• Tyrone Slappey
Yorkey agreed to take on the matter after the Attorney General’s Office requested a special prosecutor take over. Dana Nessel, the Attorney General, bowed out because of a possible appearance of bias on her part.
That concern stems from Nessel prosecuting pro-Palestinian protestors at the University of Michigan, and her past criticism of Hamtramck city councilmembers’ “anti-LGBTQ positions,” especially after, a few years ago, they banned the display of pride flags on public property.
Nessel criticized the council and mayor for that action, calling them “a national embarrassment.”
Nessel identifies as Jewish and lesbian. The city council and mayor are all-male and all-Muslim.
A week ago, Yorkey talked briefly about the case and told The Review, “We are still reviewing it. There’s a lot of evidence we are wading through.”
He said his office agreed to take the case because assistant prosecutors in his office “were interested.”
The case initially took a slow path forward since agents in the Attorney General’s Office began their investigation shortly after the 2023 election, which included interviews with witnesses.
It seemed the case was going nowhere until a couple of months ago, when Hamtramck City Clerk Rana Faraj wrote a letter to the state Attorney General to make a decision on whether to go forward.
Faraj said there are surveillance recordings, from security cameras on city hall, showing one or more candidates stuffing a ballot drop-off box in front of city hall with ballots.
Faraj has also said that a number of ballots had the same handwriting.
The practice of filling out ballots for voters or turning them in for someone else is referred to as ballot harvesting – which is illegal.
It is also illegal to handle other people’s ballots unless they are part of the handler’s immediate family, are living in the same dwelling, or are a designated official.
According to the state attorney general’s petition for a special prosecutor, the suspects all face accusations that they “conspired to receive unvoted absentee ballots that had been signed by recently naturalized citizens, and to then fill in the candidates of their choosing.”
“In some instances, it is alleged that they paid for votes, as well as had citizens claim addresses they did not live at, in order to gain an advantage in local elections.”
The election in 2023 was notable for a curious reason.
In the August Primary Election, Choudhury was the top vote-getter but, in the November election, he fell to fifth place out of a field of six candidates – an unheard-of drop-off for a top contender.
And Sadman, an obscure newcomer to politics, rose from fifth place in the primary election to the number two spot in the November election.
Hassan rose from fourth place — right behind Lynn Blasey, the only female in the election — to go on to become the top-vote getter in November’s election.
Hassan and Sadman’s sudden rise in the November election edged out Blasey from taking a seat on council.
Choudhury also claimed, that in the November 2023 election, 200 absentee ballots had not been counted.
Asked why he made this claim, Choudhury told The Review at the time:
“I don’t know, the whole community is shocked and saddened that they voted for me by absentee ballots — over a thousand. They don’t know why I lost against a candidate that came in fifth place in the primary.”
Nothing came of Choudhury’s accusation.
Choudhury is now seeking to be elected back onto the city council.
Also, Councilmember Abu Musa is seeking re-election.
Musa and Councilmember Muhith Mahmood are each also being investigated by the state police on whether they actually live in the city.
According to an investigator hired by the city, Musa allegedly lives in Warren and Mahmood lives in Troy.
Both have denied the allegations.
Posted June 20, 2025