ALORTON, IL — The mayor of a small St. Louis suburb has been charged with official misconduct, a felony, for allegedly demoting a cop in retaliation for his testimony against her in a separate felony vote-buying case.

Jo Ann Reed, 59, was indicted last December as part of a joint state and federal corruption investigation. In addition to illegal payments in exchange for votes, she was also charged with electioneering too close to a polling place. According to a criminal complaint in St. Clair County Circuit Court, Reed demoted Sgt. Leon Hughes to retaliate against him for testifying against her in the case, the Belleville News-Democrat reported.

Reed, a Democrat, ran for and won election in 2017 while facing felony vote fraud charges. She was sworn in as mayor of Alorton, a town of roughly 2,000, for the second time in May.

Her first time being forced out of office resulted from her 2013 guilty plea to charges of smuggling a cellphone into the town jail for a relative, St. Louis Today reported.

Because it was her first offense, Reed was able to erase her felony conviction by showing it was connected to substance abuse. The News-Democrat reported she completed treatment and ended probation in October 2016.

In July, Alorton village trustees gave Reed complete control over hiring and firing by a vote of 4-2, according to the News-Democrat.



"I think everyone has enough trust in me that I can make the decisions," Reed said at the time, according to the paper.

One of the trustees who voted against giving her the authority warned the town would risk filing for bankruptcy if Reed was allowed to continue. Trustee Devione Kidd told KMOV-TV she created new positions like "assistant to the mayor" and "director of public safety" while converting longtime employees to part-time and cancelling their vacations.

According to court records, the alleged illegal retaliation against the police officer took place in September.

Reed was arrested Friday by Illinois State Police on a bench warrant and charged with official misconduct. She has pleaded not guilty and a status hearing has been set for Jan. 13.