Pollster Pleads Guilty to Fraud

The former Director of Operations of a US company that conducted campaign polls for President Bush and other political candidates, has been found guilty of ordering employees to fabricate survey results and sentenced to more than two years in jail.

Tracy Costin, owner of political polling firm DataUSA (now known as Viewpoint USA), admitted in her plea that she had conspired to falsify survey and polling results between 2001 and 2004 in order to meet deadlines. She also admitted that she had directed employees to doctor results by completing surveys after calls had been concluded, changing the respondent's gender, ethnicity or political affiliation to meet a quota, and faking the responses for entire surveys.

Costin has been ordered to serve 27 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. She has agreed to repay more than $82,700 to the five clients she defrauded, and $168,900 to the Internal Revenue Service for tax returns she failed to file for four years. In April, the firm's Manager Darryl Hylton received a five months prison sentence for his part in the fraud.

According to a federal indictment, managers at the company used the term: 'talk to cats and dogs' when instructing employees to concoct survey results. FBI Special Agent Jeff Rovelli said that 50% of data compiled by DataUSA and transmitted to Bush's campaign was falsified.

In April 2004, Costin denied any involvement and knowledge of the falsification and fabrication of survey data. At Costin's sentencing on Wednesday, District Judge Janet Hall said: 'It is the court's opinion that you knew what was going on. It was your business. You were in charge. You were the owner.'

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.