Brendan J. Lyons reports in the Times Union that the Rensselaer County Republican elections commissioner will plead guilty to federal criminal charges on January 11 in a vote fraud investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. For Jason T. Schofield it will be his second conviction in the federal investigation by the FBI focused on the harvesting of absentee ballots in elections over the past two years in Rensselaer County. Danielle Neroni, Schofield's attorney, said on Dec. 28, "He is scheduled for a change of plea and with his change of plea he will be resigning from his position." The newspaper says a source tells them that Schofield will cooperate in the wide-ranging investigation into election fraud in the county, according to his plea agreement. This won't be the first guilty plea in this investigation. former Troy city councilperson Kimberly Ashe-McPherson, a 61-year-old Republican, pleaded guilty in June to fraudulently submitting absentee ballots in last year's primary and general elections. Read more about this story in the Times Union.