The Day Before the Midterms, DOJ Charges 63 With Voting Crimes. One Green Card Holder Allegedly Voted in 12 Elections

The Justice Department on Monday announced charges against 63 people in 15 states for illegal voting, fraudulent voter registration and related election crimes, one day before Americans go to the polls in the midterms.

"Today's announcement marks the largest surge of voter-fraud arrests since President Trump returned to office," Attorney General Todd Blanche said. "These foreign nationals allegedly took advantage of the trust of the American people and flouted the laws that govern our nation's elections."

The department said it has charged 195 noncitizens in 25 states with illegal voting and registration offenses in the last nine weeks alone, and 239 people with voting fraud-related offenses since the administration began.

Who was charged

Of the 63, the release describes 58 as lawful permanent residents, people who hold green cards but are not citizens and may not vote in federal elections. Four are illegal aliens: Benito Covarrubias Iniguez, 64, of Mexico, charged in Georgia; Ali Khan, 33, of Trinidad and Tobago, charged in Texas; Mohammad Hachibur Rahman, 33, of Bangladesh, charged in Maryland; and Selvin Porfidio Gonzalez Escobar, 43, of Guatemala, charged in North Carolina. The last is a U.S. citizen, Robert Glenn Johnson, 63, of Annapolis, Maryland, accused of falsely claiming New Mexico residency on a voter registration form in Albuquerque.

The accused come from more than 30 countries. Mexico accounts for the most, with nine, followed by Canada with six, the Philippines with five and Jamaica with four. Others are nationals of Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Nigeria, Israel, Germany, France, Finland and Samoa, among others. Most of the cases center on ballots cast in the November 2024 presidential election.

Decades on the rolls

Some of the alleged voting goes back a generation. In North Carolina, where 18 of the cases were first announced on Oct. 29, prosecutors say Gregory Eugene Wade, 64, a native of Bermuda living in Wake County, registered in 2000 and voted in 12 general elections, from 2000 through 2024, plus the 2002 and 2020 primaries.

Elizabeth Margaret Crudup, 52, a native of Kenya living in Harnett County, registered in 2008 and voted in nine general elections and nine primaries, the most recent this year, according to the indictment summary. Karl Anthony Wilkins, 62, of Jamaica, voted in the 2020, 2022 and 2024 general elections in Wake County, prosecutors say. Each is charged with falsely claiming citizenship to vote and with voting as an alien.

Other cases came to light when the defendants tried to become citizens. In New Jersey, Antonio Mitchell, 54, of Jamaica, and Andrea Morzetta, 72, of Italy, are accused of voting and then claiming on their citizenship applications that they never had. In Texas, Mexican national Karen Hinojosa-Martinez, 37, is charged with lying on immigration documents after allegedly voting in a federal election.

In Pennsylvania, Canadian national Gavin Moir, 55, faces four counts of voting by an alien, covering the 2022 and 2024 general elections and the 2022 and 2026 primaries. In Wisconsin, Canadian nationals Monique Gignac-Yochum, 60, and Rodger Dedrick, 66, are charged with voting illegally, Gignac-Yochum in both 2022 and 2024.

Rolled into one list

Several of the cases had already been announced by U.S. attorney's offices over the past week, including the 18 in North Carolina. Monday's release gathers them with new cases into a single national count.

The six charged in Los Angeles County with lying on naturalization forms are among them, as we reported earlier today. Also on Monday, the Supreme Court declined to let the Justice Department hold back some 20,000 California ballots it flagged as possible noncitizen votes.

Most of the defendants face charges under federal laws that make it a crime for a noncitizen to vote in an election for president, vice president or Congress, or to falsely claim citizenship to register or vote. The department noted that a complaint, indictment or information contains only accusations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.