Petersburg sheriff candidate faces voter-fraud charge

A candidate for Petersburg sheriff was arrested yesterday on a misdemeanor charge of committing voter fraud in last November's election.

Troy Bernard Fobbs Sr., 56, surrendered to Virginia State Police investigators following a monthlong investigation, said Sgt. Tom Molnar, a state police spokesman.

A warrant charging him with one count of illegal voting and registration alleges that Fobbs cast his ballot last November knowing he was not qualified to vote in Petersburg.

It wasn't immediately clear where Fobbs was legally eligible to vote, although Petersburg officials had earlier asked the Chesterfield County commonwealth's attorney's office to look into questions about Fobbs' residency.

The voter-fraud case was referred to the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations by the Petersburg commonwealth's attorney's office.

Fobbs, a former sheriff's deputy who is running against his former boss, Sheriff Vanessa R. Crawford, was released on a personal recognizance bond pending a hearing Dec. 3 in Petersburg General District Court.

The charge against Fobbs is not related to statewide allegations of voter fraud being investigated by the state police, Molnar said.

Yesterday, Fobbs said, "I have been voting in the city of Petersburg where I have been voting for the past 20 years. All they [police] said is that I voted where I wasn't qualified."

He added: "This all started with the sheriff questioning my residency and it seems quite strange that this happens weeks before election. I am still running for sheriff and I am asking for people to vote for me."

Fobbs says he lives in Petersburg at his father's Farmer Street home. But Crawford and other residents have raised questions about the issue because Fobbs owns property in Chesterfield and his children attend county schools.

Crawford said that when Fobbs worked at her office, he had a Chesterfield address as his place of residence. She said she asked the Petersburg Commonwealth's Attorney "to look into the residency issue because his address was listed in Chesterfield up until March 31, and he changed it March 31."

The office requires residency inside the city of Petersburg, Crawford said.

Fobbs said he leases the property he owns in Chesterfield to another party. Asked about his children going to school in Chesterfield, he said, "I am the one running for sheriff and I have always voted and lived here [in Petersburg]."

He said he was born and raised in the city.

Fobbs worked for the sheriff's office for five years but was terminated in May, months after he announced the campaign against Crawford, he said. Crawford, 45, who is seeking a second term, said Fobbs was terminated for cause, "not because he was running against me."

Contact Mark Bowes at (804) 649-6450 or .

Contact Luz Lazo at (804) 649-6058 or .