Laughton Told She's Not Eligible, Drops Out of Special Election
Stacie Laughton got a call Wednesday morning from Secretary of State Bill Gardner with news.
By Carol Robidoux
10:35 am
http://nashua.patch.com/articles/laughton-told-she-s-not-eligible-drops-out-of-special-election (http://nashua.patch.com/articles/laughton-told-she-s-not-eligible-drops-out-of-special-election)
"I'm definitely disappointed," said Stacie Laughton, after learning this morning that she cannot run for the Ward 4 State Rep vacancy created when she previously bowed out.
"I feel like I could crawl in a hole and cry right now, but I'm not going to do that," Laughton said, during a phone interview Wednesday morning, shortly after reading a statement sent to her by Secretary of State Bill Gardner. [See two-page letter uploaded her in pdf format.]
In question was whether Laughton, who served time in 2008 for credit card fraud, was eligible to run for elected office in New Hampshire based on the terms of a suspended sentence.
"Bill Gardner said he finally got a statement from the AG's office, and that they don't feel I've completed the final discharge of my sentence," Laughton said.
Mentioned in the letter, in addition to the suspended sentence, is the fact that restitution has not yet been paid in full.
Yeah, I was wondering about that since she's technically not completely discharged until the suspended sentence time limit is up in almost 10 years.
She needs a pardon or commutation.