McCrae Dowless’ trial on charges related to election fraud scheduled for August

RALEIGH — McCrae Dowless, the central figure tied to putting Bladen County into the national spotlight following the 2018 election cycle, is scheduled for trial in August on charges related to election fraud.

Dowless appeared in a Wake County courtroom before Superior Court Judge Keith Gregory on Monday morning for arraignment. He opted not to take a deal from prosecutors, according to published reports. The plea included a year of prison, concurrent with a federal term he is slated to start Dec. 1, and five years probation.

The trial date is Aug. 29.

Dowless attorney Drew Sprague told Gregory he was concerned about meeting trial deadlines because of Dowless’ medical condition. Dowless, who arrived in court using a cane, had a mini-stroke recently, and he learned that some spots on his lung may be cancer, according to Sprague.

Dowless has been indicted on charges related to both the 2016 and 2018 elections. The charges include four counts of obstruction of justice, three counts of conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice, three counts of possession of an absentee ballot, two counts of perjury, and one count of common law obstruction of justice.

He’s long been associated with elections, in particular absentee ballots, and has worked for both Democrats and Republicans.

His work for the Rev. Mark Harris, a Republican who ran for the state’s 9th District seat in Congress, in 2017 and 2018 led to multiple media organizations descending upon Bladen County and trying to uncover knowledge about what he and his associates did. Books and documentaries have followed.

Harris appeared to win the election but was never seated in Congress, eventually going through a tearful testimony at an evidentiary hearing of the North Carolina State Board of Elections in February 2019. It ended after he said even he had doubts about the integrity of the race.

At that same hearing, those who worked for Dowless testified about collecting absentee ballots and in some cases marking them. It is unlawful for anyone other than the voter to mark choices on absentee ballots.

Harris chose not to run again when the state election board ordered a new election. His Democratic opponent, Dan McCready, did run and was beaten by Dan Bishop, who had been serving as a state senator.

Bladen County is no longer has any part of District 9; new maps place all of the county within District 7.

Dowless was arrested on Feb. 27, 2019, with several charges filed that included obstruction of justice, perjury, solicitation to commit perjury, conspiracy to obstruct justice, and possession of an absentee ballot. In addition to Dowless, also eventually arrested were Lisa Britt, Ginger Eason, Woody Hester, James Singletary, Jessica Dowless, Kelly Hendrix, Caitlyn Croom, Tonia Marie Gordon, Matthew Monroe Mathis and Rebecca D. Thompson — all charged with illegal election activities.

Dowless, who has worked for current county commissioners and the sheriff in Bladen County in addition to the Baptist preacher Harris, is expected to begin serving a six-months term in jail next month connected to some of the work he did for candidates. Dowless pleaded guilty on June 21 to Social Security fraud. In addition to prison time, Dowless was instructed to repay $8,599.10. He faced maximum jail time of 15 years.

Dowless claimed he was unable to work due to a disability in paperwork he filed in February 2013 with the Social Security Administration. When he applied for Retirement Insurance Benefits in 2018, “Dowless stated that he did not expect to work in 2018 and had not worked in the two years preceding his application,” a release from federal prosecutors said.

For the 2018 midterm election cycle, between March 2017 and November 2018, Dowless received “at least 59 checks totaling $135,365.57 for consulting work,” the release said.

Dowless has previous felony convictions in 1995 for fraud and in 1992 for perjury. He served six months in prison for trying to forge a dead man’s signature on a life insurance policy with a date days before his death.