A Clay County man has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in a case related to vote-fraud charges against several local officials.

Richard Brian Hubbard was charged with sending a threatening photo of himself holding a gun to two people who have cooperated in the investigation of the officials. Investigators say the photo was sent via MySpace.

Hubbard later told the FBI that he was on the witnesses' friends list and that he had not learned their identities from Charles Wayne Jones, an election official charged in the vote-fraud case.

Those statements were not true, Hubbard acknowledged in pleading guilty Monday in federal court in London.

Charges related to threatening the witnesses will be dropped when Hubbard is sentenced in October, according to his plea agreement.

Those charged with scheming to buy votes in Clay County are Jones; former Circuit Judge R. Cletus Maricle; school Superintendent Douglas Adams; county Clerk Freddy Thompson; William Stivers, who has been an election officer; and Bart Morris and his wife Debra, who own a waste-hauling company.

All have pleaded not guilty.

Paul Bishop, a former election officer, has pleaded guilty.