Two right-wing fraudsters charged in a robocall scheme aimed at suppressing turnout of Black voters in Detroit in 2020 pleaded no contest to felony charges Friday.
Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, who have a history of spreading hoaxes and outlandish conspiracy theories, face up to seven years in prison when they are sentenced in Wayne County Circuit Court on Dec. 1. They pleaded no contest to bribing/intimidating voters, conspiracy to commit an election law violation, using a computer to commit the crime of election law, and using a computer to commit the crime of conspiracy.
The plea comes nearly five years after the con artists recorded and funded a robocall with falsehoods about voting by mail before the presidential election in 2020. The automated message was sent to nearly 12,000 phone numbers linked to Detroit addresses and falsely claimed that their personal information from mail-in ballots could lead to their arrest warrants or be used to collect unpaid credit card debts. The calls also falsely warned that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could use the information to track people for mandatory vaccines.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel alleged the calls were intended to discourage Black voters from casting main-in ballots.
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“After five years, I’m glad this case has finally reached a resolution,” Nessel said. “Deceptive and racially targeted suppression schemes will not be tolerated in Michigan. My office will continue to pursue and prosecute voter intimidation, no matter how long it takes, to ensure that Michiganders can exercise their right to vote free from fear and deception.”
The AG’s office charged the men in October 2020, and Burkman and Wohl repeatedly tried to get the case dismissed. They challenged the charges all the way to the Michigan Supreme Court, which ruled that the state’s voter intimidation law applies to intentionally false speech about voting requirements or procedures if it is made with the intent to deter or influence voters.
This is not the first time the fraudsters faced consequences for the robocalls. In a separate civil case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James and the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, they agreed last year to pay up to $1.25 million for similar voter suppression tactics in New York, Ohio, and Michigan.
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This article appears in Jul 23 – Aug 5, 2025.
