A candidate for mayor in St. Charles, Minn., has been convicted of felony marijuana possession charges, but says he'll keep campaigning for the next week.
But the Winona Daily News says that if Stephen Thomas Conlin is elected next week, the felony conviction will prevent him from taking office.
During a 2010 raid at Conlin's home and barber shop. police confiscated 17 1/2 pounds of marijuana, 68 plants, $1,100 in cash and six firearms, the paper said. A jury found him guilty last week of third-degree marijuana sale and fifth-degree possession of marijuana.
He'll be sentenced in December and faces possible jail time.
Conlin told the paper that the conviction might “throw a few complications in” his campaign.
But he said: "A vote for me is a vote to remove the mayor."
He doesn't like incumbent mayor Bill Spitzer.
The Secretary of State's Office says the felony conviction will prevent Conlin from serving, so if he's elected the city would have to fill the vacancy, presumably through a special election or appointment.
Conlin will be able to legally vote for himself, though, because he hasn't been sentenced yet, the paper said.