In March 2011, White was indicted on seven felony counts including voter fraud, perjury and theft. He was charged with intentionally voting in the wrong precinct in the primary, continuing to serve on the Fishers council and drawing his salary after allegedly moving out of town, even though he was voting at large. He was released from a Hamilton County jail after posting a $10,000 bond. Shortly after the news broke, Republican Governor
Mitch Daniels and Indiana's other state officials urged White to step aside while the charges were pending. Conviction on even one charge would have automatically ousted White as Secretary of State; Indiana, like most states, does not allow convicted felons to hold office. Subsequently, White recused himself from the case since the Secretary of State is chairman of the Recount Commission. White was cleared by the Recount Commission in a bi-partisan 3–0 vote, saying that he intended to use his wife's home as his permanent address. However, the state Democratic party asked Rosenberg to review the decision, arguing that it put too much weight on White's testimony and ignored documents listing his new address. Rosenberg heard the case on November 23, even though White was absent. Earlier,
WISH-TV political reporter Jim Shella wrote in his blog that the Democrats' challenge to White's ballot status could have implications beyond the Secretary of State race. According to Shella, if the Democrats were to prevail, the Republicans would have legally received no votes in the Secretary of State's race. This would drop them below the 10 percent threshold required to retain major-party status in the state (major party status is determined by Secretary of State results). When Judge Rosenberg remanded the eligibility challenge back to the Recount Commission, Shella wrote that from White's perspective, he would be better off settling the criminal case before the fate of his office was decided. He could have reduced the felony counts to misdemeanors in a plea deal, which would have allowed him to keep his law license even if he had to leave office. However, Shella wrote, if he was forced out of office, he would have no bargaining chip in any plea negotiations. White immediately announced he would appeal, and asked Rosenberg to stay his ruling until a higher court can hear the case. The next day, Rosenberg issued a temporary stay on his own ruling until January 3, 2012. On January 4, Rosenburg ruled that White could stay in office while his appeal works its way through the courts.
Conviction of voter fraud On February 4, 2012, a jury found White guilty of six of seven felony charges, including false registration, voting in another precinct, submitting a false ballot, theft, and two counts of perjury. He was acquitted on one fraud charge. The felony convictions automatically removed White from office, though he presumably could have regained the post if his convictions had been downgraded to misdemeanors and Rosenberg's ruling awarding the office to Osili had been overturned on appeal. Governor Daniels immediately appointed White's deputy,
Jerry Bonnet, as interim Secretary of State. On February 23, Hamilton County Superior Court Judge Steven Nation sentenced White to one year of house arrest, 30 hours of community service and a $1,000 fine. Nation refused to downgrade White's charges to misdemeanors, saying that his actions in the 2010 election were deliberate and therefore "violated the trust of the people." The conviction ends any chance of White regaining office even if his appeal of Rosenberg's ruling is successful. White lost all of his appeals in state courts and began serving his one-year home-detention sentence in October 2015. In July 2016, his law license was suspended for two years. ==References==