BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Sept. 7) - The owner of DataUSA
Inc., a company that conducted political polls for the campaigns of President
Bush, Sen. Joe Lieberman and other candidates, pleaded guilty to fraud for
making up survey and poll results.
AP
Tracy Costin pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of
conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Costin, 46, faces a maximum of five years in
prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when she is sentenced Nov. 30.
As
part of her plea agreement, Costin agreed to repay $82,732 to the unidentified
clients for 11 jobs between June 2002 and May 2004. DataUSA is now known as
Viewpoint USA.
According to a federal indictment, Costin told employees
to alter poll data, and managers at the company told employees to "talk to cats
and dogs" when instructing them to fabricate the surveys.
FBI Special
Agent Jeff Rovelli said 50 percent of information compiled by DataUSA and
transmitted to Bush's campaign was falsified, the Connecticut Post reported
Thursday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Chang said on several occasions
when the company was running up against a deadline to complete a job, results
were falsified. Sometimes, the respondent's gender or political affiliation were
changed to meet a quota, other times all survey answers were
fabricated.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. The information contained
in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All
active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
