'A stupid mistake': Trump supporter gets slap on the wrist probation for felony election fraud

A Delaware County, Pennsylvania man who was charged with two felony counts of perjury and one count of unlawful voting for successfully casting his dead mother's absentee ballot for former president Donald Trump has avoided jail, reports the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Bruce Bartman, 70, pleaded guilty on Friday and was sentenced to five years on probation, made ineligible to vote in an election for four years, and banned from serving on a jury by Common Pleas Court Judge Richard Cappelli after apologizing for his actions.

Speaking to the judge, Bartman admitted, "I was isolated last year in lockdown. I listened to too much propaganda and made a stupid mistake."

Bartman's attorney concurred, adding his client made "a very misguided political mistake, and very stupid."

According to the report, Bartman's actions were not a simple mistake and he knew exactly what he was doing when he committed fraud.

"Last fall, Bartman used the driver's license of his dead mother, Elizabeth Bartman, to register her to vote online, and then requested and filled out an absentee ballot in her name, prosecutors said. He repeated the process for Elizabeth Weihman, his deceased mother-in-law, using her Social Security number, though he did not cast a ballot for her," the Inquirer is reporting. "The state's system flagged the registration for his mother as belonging to a dead person — she died several years ago — but Bartman signed and sent back a letter asserting she was still alive."

According to the report, the 70-year-old was facing 19 years in prison under the original charges.