View source for John Silvestro

== Biography ==
=== Family and early life ===

=== NH local politics ===
<ref name="townunder_quit"/>

=== Election contracting ===

== Occupations ==
=== Corporations ===
* [[LHS Associates]]: President (????-????), CEO (????-????), ...

== Controversies ==
<ref name="voter_reg"/>

== Political connections ==

== See also ==
* [[Ken Hajjar]]
* [[Jeffrey Dean]]

== References ==
<references>
<ref name="voter_reg">[https://i.imgur.com/3CD92F0.png Voter registration info]</ref>
<ref name="townunder_quit">[http://www.townunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=296.0 Silvestro stated on 2007/02/12 that he would retire from town politics after a 20-year career]</ref>
</references>

== External links ==
=== Londonderry politics ===
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20081031055325/http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/157/70042.html?1193104451 Post by Nancy Tobi on 2007/10/21 on a Black Box Voting forum thread]: "NH elections are controlled by the private firm of LHS Associates, run by a Mr. John Silvestro. Silvestro lives in Londonderry NH, where he Chairs the town's budget committee and simultaneously sells the town his Diebold voting machines and services.<br><br>Casual chats with voters on Nov. 2006 election day in Londonderry revealed not a small amount of animosity from Londonderry voters towards Mr. Silvestro, his role in what they called the town's cabal, what they called his hold on the town and his obvious conflict of interest that apparently goes unaddressed in town politics.<br><br>Silvestro and his firm have a small operation in Methuen, MA, in a little nondescript office building. We know nothing about his firm or his employees. We know nothing about any background checks on these unknown people controlling 80% of NH's ballots. We know that Silvestro and his firm are adored by the NH city and town clerks, who proclaim loudly about the wonderful customer service LHS provides. These clerks forget that elections are not about customer service. One day we will succeed in reminding them.<br><br>[...]<br><br>And why wouldn't they approve these machines - the crime they carry against our democracy? The BLC are all just political appointees. Unaccountable to anyone if they have no conscience to guide them. Everyone loves LHS Associates and its president, Mr. John Silvestro, right? We all TRUST him and his unknown, unseen, unchecked election programmers.<br><br>The NH SoS is the clerk to the BLC, an implementor of policy in this area, rather than a decision maker.<br><br>[...]<br><br>Because all decisions on voting equipment are local, and all control is local, at the town and city level, it is going to be hard to obtain good data on what LHS is doing. But I'd like to see some FOIA actions to both the Secretary of State's office (which I believe DOES have some raw information), and all of the ACCUVOTE cities and towns.<br><br>I think the citizens of the nation deserve to know more about LHS Associates, whose second line of business (after programming New England's elections) is DATA MINING. They collect census data. Nice business to be in. Learn all about the demographic information and then install the vote counting programs for all those cities and towns.<br><br>Hmmmm.<br><br>I'd like to see a lot of FOIA activity to obtain information about exactly what services LHS has provided to NH cities and towns, at what cost financially, and all service records for ALL elections during the past 10 years.<br><br>At last year's BLC hearing, the Fair Elections Committee requested a lot of information from LHS, and we also asked the BLC to ask for the information from LHS. Nobody responded. Mr. Silvestro indicated we were just "the guy down the street" and he had no reason to share any information with us."

=== Son and Kenny Ritchie ===
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20170715184540/http://www.citruscountycoverup.org/KennyRitchie.htm "Citrus County Coverup" website's page on the Kenny Ritchie case]
* [https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/comments/44ca0a/a_murderer_is_walking_free_john_silvestro_may/ 2016/02/05 Reddit thread in /r/UnresolvedMysteries about Silvestro's clout and Kenny Ritchie]
** Is this Juan Santiago from the John Couey case: "On the 16th of September a body is discovered somewhere in Crystal River area according to the CCSO website. Homicide Detective Santiago came to Cynthia Hislops home for a DNA sample. This is more than likely routine. She asks the Detective about the body that has been posted online and If it is Kenny. He replies, “lets hope not.” She later asks the CCSO if they have verified the identity of the body. They say they did not find a body that day. It is removed from the internet and no trace is left on the official CCSO site. Detective Santiago was taken off the case shortly after."
* [https://maryams2cent.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/is-florida-the-most-corrupt-state-in-the-us/ Maryam T. Bennett, "Is Florida the Most Corrupt State in the US?", 2013/07/25] ([https://maryams2cent.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/silvestroscriminalrecords.pdf criminal record of the Silvestros]; [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19951221&id=ieVPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lgcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3674,3001830&hl=en ''Ocala Star Banner'', "Boat overturns; man remains missing", 1995/12/21]; emails with [https://maryams2cent.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/emails-to-and-from-dawsy.pdf Sheriff Jeff Dawsy], [https://maryams2cent.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/decarlo-back-and-forth.pdf Captain David DeCarlo]) - mentions Silvestro's golfing career in the early 1990s; claims he was a confidential informant with CI #5839174
* [https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForKennyRitchie/posts/657127364425478 On Facebook, Ritchie's mother claims Silvestro was a CI, mentions the 1995 Kenneth Norton boat incident, and claims Silvestro worked at the Navy hospital in Quantico VA near FBI headquarters]
* Worth noting that Citrus County FL is where the [[Valdosta sex ring allegations#John Couey|Jessica Lunsford abduction]] (for which John Couey was convicted) took place
* Facebook verification of family connection
** [https://www.facebook.com/john.silvestro.54/friends Friends list of John Silvestro Sr.] - has link to [https://www.facebook.com/john.silvestro.33 another John Silvestro] (who is friends with [https://www.facebook.com/keith.haas.3 Keith Haas])
** [https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=816996638345269 Picture of the other John Silvestro with "Bert", his late wife]
** [https://www.facebook.com/john.silvestro.33/posts/1668694229842168 A photo of Silvestro in 2011 looks very much like the one in the 1990 golfing article]
* People search verification of family connection
** [https://www.spokeo.com/John-Silvestro/Florida/Kissimmee/p2015021409181198371703998197024 John James Silvestro]: 70 years old; lived in Biddeford ME, Fort Lauderdale FL, Londonderry NH, Methuen MA, Kissimmee FL; relatives include Jeff Silvestro and Roberta Silvestro
** [https://www.spokeo.com/John-Silvestro/Florida/Dunnellon/p14037419131 John J. Silvestro]: 51 years old; lived in Derry NH, Lecanto FL (where the John G. Silvestro in the 1995 news article lived), Methuen MA, Dunnellon FL; relatives include Roberta Silvestro
* 2012 drug bust around November 14 or 15 that was related to John Silvestro Jr.
** ...
* Pastor Douglas Alexander - alleged international drug dealer 
** [https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/region-citrus-hernando/a-former-citrus-county-deputy-turned-pastor-is-making-sure-residents-in-five-counties-are-fed ''WFTS'', "A former Citrus County deputy turned Pastor is making sure residents in five counties are fed", 2016/08/18]: "A Citrus County church is offering free, fresh produce to community members three times a week.  All you have to do is bring a smile. It is first come, first serve at The New Church Without Walls International off Florida Avenue in Hernando. Pastor Douglas Alexander Sr. has partnered with Farmshare, a non-profit organization that recovers food from farms, wholesalers and other groups which is donated to feed the hungry. [...] It is also distributed out to other area churches and agencies across Citrus, Marion, Sumter and Hernando counties. [...] Alexander Sr. is very familiar with the struggles the community faces--he grew up in Hernando along with 17 siblings. He went into the Army and then returned to the area and became a sheriff's deputy.  He was even Sherouse's school officer at one point. That is when he started to help. "The first thing I did that touched my heart, it was doing Thanksgiving and Christmas, so we began to throw turkeys in the back of the patrol car and start meeting the need," he recalled with a smile. Eight years ago he retired and founded the church alongside his wife."
* Alleged drug involvement of Sheriff Jeff Dawsy and his son Dusty Dawsy
** ...
* [[Rick Scott]] campaigning in Homosassa FL
** ...
* Other curiosities
** More speculative aspects of John Silvestro Jr. background
*** [http://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/UF/00/02/83/15/02508/08-18-2011.pdf ''Citrus County Chronicle'', "In death, young Marine gives life to comrade", 2011/08/18] - quotes a Lt. John Silvestro in the Marines, who may be the same person
** Charles Wigglesworth of the Citrus County Sheriff's Office
*** [https://www.chronicleonline.com/news/crime_and_courts/bond-remains-withheld-for-fired-ccso-deputy-charged-in-child-sex-case/article_b18f270c-7845-11ea-a390-1f8726b6e7b5.html ''Citrus County Chronicle'', "Bond remains withheld for fired CCSO deputy charged in child-sex case", 2020/04/06]: "A Citrus County Sheriff’s Office deputy who was fired after his arrest on child-sex charges will remain jailed without bond. Circuit Judge Richard “Ric” Howard made the ruling Friday at Charles Robert Wigglesworth’s first appearance in court, following the Homosassa 30-year-old’s arrest earlier that day by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), clerk records show. Wigglesworth is scheduled to be arraigned April 23 on two capital-felony charges of sexual battery of a child younger than 12 years old and three charges of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child. FDLE launched an investigation into Wigglesworth March 30 at the request of the sheriff's office. [...] During his tenure as a county sheriff’s deputy, which began in July 2018, Wigglesworth was assigned to patrol within Inverness city limits, according to his personnel file provided Monday by the sheriff’s office. Prior to his firing, Wigglesworth was reprimanded three prior occasions for “minor policy violations,” his personnel file shows. [...] On Dec. 6, 2018, he didn’t document a burglary that just happened because the homeowner was unsure of pressing charges. As a result, another deputy had to investigate the burglary over again the next day after the homeowner decided to add more information and pursue charges. However, the suspect was able to evade capture. [...] Wigglesworth was also commended by the sheriff’s office a few times, according to his personnel file. [...] Wigglesworth was also recognized for his prior military service, according to the personnel file."