Anand Patel of Wheeling speaks during a city council meeting in 2022. (File Photo)

WHEELING — A Wheeling man has been charged on 22 misdemeanor counts in connection with illegal campaign mailers sent to residents prior to the last Wheeling municipal election.

Anand Patel, 41, has been charged with nine counts of publishing or circulating an anonymous item supporting or aiding defeat of an election candidate, nine counts of failing to report independent expenditures aggregating $5,000 or more or $500 county race, and two counts each of failing to include public notice for communication by independent expenditure and making a false statement in regard to a candidate.

Patel pleaded not guilty to all charges in an appearance in Ohio County Magistrate Court on Thursday.

He posted a $34,500 personal recognizance bond. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 7 before Ohio County Magistrate Kevin Stryker.

Wetzel County Prosecutor Timothy Haught has been named special prosecutor in the case.

Patel is accused of sending out several campaign mailers attacking Wheeling mayoral candidates prior to the 2024 election. The mailers attacked now-Mayor Denny Magruder, along with fellow candidates Rosemary Ketchum, Chad Thalman and J.T. Thomas, while some supported candidate Beth Hinebaugh. Hinebaugh vehemently denied connection with the mailers, and all mayoral candidates derided the mailers.

None of the mailers included the “paid for” disclaimer required on campaign mailers. The mailers also included a post office box number belonging to Wheeling resident Lou Smith, who also vehemently denied any connection to the campaign mailers and challenged the person who sent them to come forward and identify themselves.

A disclaimer notice must contain the full name of the individual, group, political committee, corporation, or labor organization that paid for the communication, along with any abbreviated name it uses to identify itself.

The disclaimer notice must also provide the payor’s permanent street address, telephone number, or website address and must state that the communication was not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.

The case had been under investigation since last year, and a misdemeanor complaint against Patel was originally filed April 28, according to the West Virginia Magistrate database.

Patel was the manager of the Wheeling Inn, which was closed by the City of Wheeling as a public nuisance in 2022 and was ultimately bought by the Wheeling Convention and Visitors Bureau to be torn down. A new visitors center will be built on the spot where the Wheeling Inn once stood.