Former Blacksburg Councilman sentenced for felony election fraud

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Former Blacksburg Councilman Liam Watson was sentenced this week after being convicted of election fraud in December, according to court records.

Watson was found guilty of two counts of election fraud and one count of illegally voting. He was charged more than two years after the election in question. In December 2025, Watson announced his resignation from the council; his full statement is available here.

Watson received a two-year prison sentence for each of the three felony convictions, with the sentences to run concurrently. However, all six years were suspended. He will serve two years of unsupervised probation.

Under Virginia law, each felony election fraud charge could have carried a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, while the illegal voting charge carried a maximum of five years.




https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2026/04/30/blacksburg-councilman-convicted-of-election-fraud-sentenced/