Petition Fraudster Takes Plea Deal

A Grand Island man who was accused of submitting fraudulent signatures supporting two medical marijuana petitions is taking a plea deal. Sixty-six-year-old Michael Egbert was found guilty in Hall County Court on Friday of one count of attempted false swearing to a circulator's petition. He will not face jail time, but he will pay a 250-dollar fine. Investigators in September flagged 38 Nebraska Medical Cannabis Regulation and Medical Cannabis Patient Protection petition sheets containing signatures of deceased people, misspelled names and wrong dates of birth, and traced it back to Egbert.