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GOSHEN, Ind. — A judge has granted the motion of former Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman to recall a warrant for his arrest for several alleged election crimes surrounding the 2022 Goshen School Board race. Kauffman, who retired from his position as Mayor in 2015, has since been elected to the Goshen School Board. However, he resigned from the board yesterday, approximately one week after the announcement of criminal charges against him and three other members of the board.
Despite the warrant being recalled, Kauffman is still facing all of the criminal charges, he simply will not be arrested and processed into the Elkhart County Jail prior to any court proceedings — meaning there will be no booking photo or mugshot released. In the motion to vacate the warrant, submitted by his attorney last week, Kauffman cited health problems and a recent hospitalization — essentially arguing that he is not a flight risk and will appear in court to face his criminal charges. The judge agreed with Kauffman’s attorney and recalled the warrant on Monday.
Four other people are also facing criminal charges for their roles in the election crime scandal, including three sitting board members — Roger Nafziger, Jose Elizalde and Mario Garber. Andrea Johnson, who unsuccessfully ran for a school board position in 2022, is also facing charges. Everyone except for Kauffman has been arrested and processed at the Elkhart County Jail. Their mugshots can be viewed below.
THE CRIMES
The criminal charges come more than a year after a REAL News Michiana investigation highlighted several election crimes committed by multiple members of the Goshen School Board. All of the suspects are Democrats who viciously attacked their conservative opponents, and appeared to use illegal tactics in the process.
According to charging documents, Kauffman is facing one felony charge for Filing Fraudulent Report and five misdemeanor charges for Accepting a Contribution Made in Another’s Name.
Jose Elizalde, Mario Garber, Roger Nafziger, Andrea Johnson all also face a felony for Filing Fraudulent Report and one misdemeanor for Accepting a Contribution Made in Another’s Name.
The court documents giving a narrative of the events and the charges can be seen below.
In December of 2022, REAL News Michiana outlined the complaint and beginning of the investigation into Kauffman and others. The story was ignored by all of the legacy outlets.
The issue revolves around essentially a money laundering scheme in which Kauffman was given money raised by a third party for a campaign from several donors. Kauffman then made a lump sum donation in his name to multiple school board candidates he was supporting, making it appear as if it were a private, personal donation made only by him. The alleged reason for the actions was to hide the names of the people making the donations.
According to Indiana election law, a third party that raises money in this fashion must be registered as a Political Action Committee (PAC). The PAC must file public reports with the names of donors that include the amounts of their donations. Making donations in the name of another person is a crime.
Indiana Code 3-14-1-11 states the following:
Sec. 11. A person who:
(1) recklessly makes a contribution in the name of another person; or
(2) knowingly accepts a contribution made by one person in the name of another
person; commits a Class B misdemeanor.
RNM discovered a complaint had been filed with the Elkhart County Election Board shortly after the 2022 Election. Included in the complaint are social media posts made by Kauffman admitting to the scheme. In one post Kauffman says, “The donations were combined and given to me to apportion to the candidates…”
Also included in the complaint is a Facebook message sent from school board candidate Mario Garber in which he confirms the potential campaign finance crimes.
“My understanding is that a large number of retired teachers and others donated to the cause. Someone collected the donations and gave them to Allan (Kauffman) and he distributed among the candidates.” Garber wrote.
According to campaign finance forms filed with the Elkhart County Clerk’s Office, Kauffman made two large donations to school board candidate Roger Nafziger’s campaign totalling nearly $6,000.
According to the original complaint, Kauffman was accused of making similar donations to other school board candidates as well. At the time, those campaign finance documents were not immediately available for RNM to review. However, the recent charging documents confirm those donations were made.
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Who was the judge that let him off.
Probably some of the same crooked judges that do alot of the other under the table stuff here in elkhart county that the people of elkhart county won’t vote out