DOJ Announces Charges and Guilty Pleas Against 12 in Election-Crime Cases Across U.S.

The Justice Department announced charges or guilty pleas involving 12 people across the United States on Monday, accusing defendants of illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration, false claims of U.S. citizenship and, in one Utah case, the alleged destruction of roughly 300 mail-in ballots.

The cases span eight federal districts and involve conduct tied to elections from 2012 through 2026. Two defendants have pleaded guilty, while the remainder face charges or allegations that still must be tested in court.

The announcement includes cases involving noncitizens who prosecutors say voted in federal elections. In Florida, prosecutors charged Christiane Vinette Young, 75, with allegedly voting in three federal elections while knowing she was not a U.S. citizen. In a separate Southern District of Florida case, Valery Zidor pleaded guilty after prosecutors said Zidor falsely claimed U.S. citizenship to register and vote in the 2024 general election.

Other allegations concern representations made during voter registration or naturalization proceedings. In Kansas, prosecutors accused George Olawunmi Johnson of claiming U.S. citizenship when registering to vote and later casting a ballot in the November 2024 election. In New Jersey, two lawful permanent residents—Patrick Terrance Reid and Danubis Bernat—were charged with illegal voting and making false statements during citizenship applications. The DOJ said Reid allegedly voted in presidential elections in 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024.

Pennsylvania accounts for four of the cases. Prosecutors accused Cliff Sanon of submitting a fraudulent voter-registration application before the state’s May 2026 primary and said the application was among eight allegedly submitted by Sanon. The department also charged Dilea Ochoa-Perez with allegedly voting in the 2022 and 2024 general elections, and accused Sade Guppy and Eduardo Gallardo Maldonado of voting in Philadelphia County while they were not U.S. citizens.

The remaining cases involve Texas, Hawaii and Utah. The DOJ said Imelda Magallanes allegedly voted in the November 2024 general election in Texas. Bernadette Acaso pleaded guilty in Hawaii after casting a mail-in ballot in the 2024 election. In Utah, postal employee Damon Matai Seei was charged with unlawfully delaying, secreting or destroying mail after allegedly discarding mail entrusted to him—including approximately 300 mail-in ballots.

The announcement is part of a broader September enforcement push. The DOJ announced charges against 16 people on September 18 and four more on September 24. Taken together, the department has publicly announced 32 defendants in three election-crime releases over 10 days. That figure measures enforcement announcements, not convictions, and the cases involve different conduct and legal stages.

That distinction is central. Some defendants have been charged by criminal complaint or information; others have pleaded guilty. A charge is an allegation, not a finding that a crime occurred, and the department itself said defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The cases also do not, based on the information released Monday, demonstrate that any alleged conduct changed the result of an election. Their significance is instead institutional: the federal government is using criminal prosecutions to target conduct it says undermines voter eligibility, registration accuracy or ballot delivery. The next measure of the campaign will be what happens in court—whether the allegations lead to convictions, pleas, dismissals or other outcomes.