The mayor of Appalachia, Virginia, a town of 2,000 in southwest Virginia, has been charged (along with 13 others) with election fraud and corruption. The scandal includes charges that a slate of three candidates bought votes from hundreds of residents by offering them not money, but cigarettes, beer and pork rinds in exchange for their votes.
"This is not about pork rinds," said the special prosecutor. "It was never about pork rinds. This is quite serious." Oh, but it's about pork rinds now, my friend.
Once in office, the indictments allege, the candidates appointed a police chief who illegally seized drugs, money and other possessions from residents and shared the profits.
