White judge gets probation for election fraud in same Texas county that jailed black woman for voting

A Tarrant County judge has been sentenced to five years probation after he pleaded guilty to submitting fake signatures in order to get on a primary ballot -- however, his sentence is vastly more lenient than the five-year jail sentence a black woman in the same county received for "illegally" voting.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Justice of the Peace Russ Casey resigned from his job after admitting to submitting fake signatures that helped secure his place on last month's primary ballot.

"I apologize to the citizens of Tarrant County, the Tarrant County Republican Party, my family and friends for the way that I have ended my judicial career," Casey said in announcing his resignation. "Today's proceedings have begun my transition from public to private life."

Although Casey was initially sentenced to two years in jail for his crimes, his sentence was ultimately probated to five years.

In contrast, 43-year-old Texas woman Crystal Mason last month was sentenced to five years in prison after she voted in an election that she had believed she was eligible to vote in.

Mason, who finished serving a three-year prison stint for tax fraud in 2016, voted in the 2016 elections while believing that her voting rights had been fully restored.

"They tell you certain things like you can’t be around a felon, you can’t have a gun," Mason told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "No one actually said, 'Hey, you can’t vote this year.'"