Fargo, ND – Ten North Dakota State football players were sentenced to community service and fined on Tuesday after pleading guilty to misdemeanor election fraud.
The players faked signatures on ballot measure petitions they were hired to collect for the state.
Those involved from the defending FCS national championship squad were starters Joshua Colville, Sam Ojuri, Brendin Pierre and Marcus Williams as well as Lucas Albers, Aireal Boyd, Demitrius Gray, Antonio Rogers, Charles Smith III and Bryan Shepherd.
Each player will serve 360 days of unsupervised probation and 50 hours of community service and must pay $325 in fees. Also, each player's record will be expunged if he completes the conditions of his sentence.
The faked signatures occurred on two ballot measures, one involving a potential state conservation fund and the other the legalization of medical marijuana usage. Neither measure received enough signatures to be put on the November ballot.
Top-ranked NDSU will host No. 3 Youngstown State in an important Missouri Valley Football Conference game on Saturday.
Williams is an All-America and Buck Buchanan Award nominee.
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