Friday, April 22, 2011

Dupnik Recall Effort Nears Apparent Collapse

Posted By on Fri, Apr 22, 2011 at 10:58 AM

The Utah man behind the effort to recall Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik is apparently withdrawing his petition after being accused of falsely using his brother’s identity and forging his brother's signature on the application for recall.

Kevin Elliott, brother of Dan Elliott—aka, Dan Baltes, the man who filed the petition—said he plans to file charges with the Pima County Attorney’s Office after being notified by me that his name was listed as the treasurer for the recall organization paperwork filled with Pima County.

“My signature is on that piece of paper?” said Kevin Elliott. “ That bastard forged my name. That’s all fabricated bullshit right there.”

Kevin Elliott, a bail bondsman from Boise, Idaho, wants Pima County to know that he is not surprised about his brother's apparent dishonesty.

“I hope the cops find him before I do,” said Kevin Elliott. “I’m not joking when I say that.”

Kevin Elliott said his brother was a “bleeding-heart liberal” working as a paralegal for a Denver chapter of the American Civil Liberities Union after being released from the Idaho Department of Corrections for a near-decade-long stint between the '80s and '90s, including convictions for grand theft, forgery and check fraud—and the victims were Baltes' parents.

After confronting his brother about the forged signature via e-mail, Kevin Elliott said Baltes replied via e-mail that he would ask Pima County to withdraw the petition and disband the committee—once his electricity comes back on.

Earlier this week, Dan Baltes was accused by the Greater Phoenix Tea Party of running a scam known as the “Main Attraction,” where he promises a big name speaker—in this case, Glenn Beck—in exchange for VIP tickets costing $350 per person, but never delivers.

Baltes was also cited on Fox News on April 12 as the main figure in the recall effort of the Democratic Wisconsin state senators who left amid a budget vote last February.

He is also running an online 527 political group campaign in support of South Florida Congressman Allen West’s bid for president in 2012.

However, West has no intention to run for president in 2012, according to Jonathan Blyth, chief of staff for West.