FERRIDAY &8212; Three defendants in the Ferriday voter fraud case got word Thursday that charges against them have been dismissed.

Justin Conner, James Skipper and Emerson Slain were set to go to trial Monday.

Kris Wartelle, public information director for the Attorney General&8217;s Office, confirmed that the charges were dropped. She said she didn&8217;t think a trial against the remaining defendant, Willie Robinson, would go to trial Monday.

&8220;Other parts of this investigation are still going on,&8221; Wartelle said. &8220;The probe into the whole scandal might be expanded.&8221;

Wartelle said she couldn&8217;t release any information on investigations.

The Attorney General&8217;s office has handled the case from the beginning. A change of venue for the trial was granted last month, moving it to Monroe.

Conner said he would comment on the matter at a press conference on the parish courthouse steps Friday, but not before. No time for the conference had been set Thursday night.

Slain said he was satisfied with the outcome of the case.

&8220;I stood steadfast to my innocence the whole time,&8221; he said. &8220;I&8217;m pleased with the decision of the Attorney General.&8221;

All seven original defendants were accused of tampering with absentee ballots in a 2004 election, which included the Ferriday mayor&8217;s race and school board elections.

The arrests were made in April 2005. Conner was charged with nine counts of conspiracy, seven counts of filing or maintaining public records and seven counts of principal to forgery.

Skipper, who is already incarcerated on a drug conviction, was charged with three counts conspiracy for filing public records and two counts principal to forgery.

Slain was charged with three counts of filing or maintaining false public records.

The charges centered around the ballots of Frederick, Lillie and Estella White.

In March Henrietta Williams was convicted in the case and later sentenced to five years hard labor with all but 18 months suspended. She was accused of tampering with the ballot of Maude Lee Williams.

Williams also faced additional charges not yet handled.

At the time of the arrests Conner was working as an assistant to Mayor Gene Allen and Robinson was a police officer. Slain worked for the police station, left the job and is now back. Skipper is a former Recreation Board member.

No information on the status of Robinson&8217;s case was available Thursday.