VIDALIA — A Concordia Parish judge reduced the sentence of James Skipper Wednesday, who was convicted of distribution and possession of cocaine, implicated in a voter fraud scandal and has filed lawsuits against a number of parish officials.

Skipper was found guilty of the cocaine distribution charge in 2002. He was sentenced to 25 years for those charges.

After he appeared before the Seventh Judicial District Court Wednesday and argued that the sentence caused a hardship for his family, among other things, Judge Leo Boothe granted that the sentence be modified to 12 years with credit for time served.

Skipper was later named as a suspect in the 2005 voter fraud scandal in Ferriday, but was never prosecuted.

Since then he has filed a number of lawsuits alleging conspiracies between top law enforcement officials related to the voter fraud charges.