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Foreign Nationals Charged in 2016 Election Voter Fraud Scandal
WILMINGTON, NC – Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, announced that 19 foreign nationals were charged with voting by alien for their actions prior to and on November 8, 2016.
A federal grand jury in Wilmington returned an indictment charging the following foreign nationals with false claim of United States citizenship in order to register to vote, and voting by an alien:
- Jose Cruz Solano-Rodriguez, age 41, of Mexico;
- Guadalupe Espinosa-Pena, age 63, of Mexico;
- Sarah Emilia Silverio-Polanco, age 35, of the Dominican Republic;
- Elizabeth Nene Amachaghi, age 44, of Nigeria;
- Maria Rufina Castillo-Boswell, age 31, of Philippines;
- Dora Maybe Damatta-Rodriguez, age 64, of Panama;
- Elvis David Fullerton, age 54, of Grenada;
- Olive Agatha Martin, age 71, of Guyana;
- Kaoru Sauls, age 54, of Japan;
Separately, criminal charges of voting by an alien were filed against the following foreign nationals:
- Jose Jaime Ramiro-Torres, age 52, of El Salvador;
- Juan Francisco Landeros-Mireles, age 64, of Mexico;
- Alessandro Cannizzaro, age 46, of Italy;
- Dieudonne Soifils, age 71, of Haiti;
- Hyo Suk George, age 69, of Korea;
- Merius Jean, age 54, of Haiti;
- Rosemarie Angelika Harris, age 60, of Germany;
- Daniel Tadeusz Romanowski, age 39, of Poland;
Additionally, a federal grand jury in Wilmington has returned an indictment charging Diana Patricia Franco-Rodriguez, age 26, of Mexico, with fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents, and voting by an alien.
Denslo Allen Paige, age 66, was charged with aiding and abetting Espinosa-Pena in falsely claiming United States citizenship in order to register to vote.
Ramon Esteban Paez-Jerez, age 58, of the Dominican Republic, was previously charged and pleaded guilty to passport fraud and voting by an alien.
Paez-Jerez was previously ordered deported from the United States in 1988 but failed to appear for removal. He assumed a fraudulent identity and applied for amnesty, which was granted in 1989. He was naturalized as a United States citizen in 1999, despite being an alien. Paez-Jerez registered to vote in 2007 and applied for a passport in 2009, using his fraudulent identity.
If convicted of false claim of United States citizenship in order to register to vote, and voting by an alien, Amachaghi, Castillo-Boswell, Damatta-Rodriguez, Espinosa-Pena, Fullerton, Martin, Sauls, Silverio-Polanco, and Solano-Rodriguez face maximum penalties of six years’ imprisonment, a $350,000 fine, and a term of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.
If convicted of voting by an alien, Cannizzaro, George, Harris, Jean, Landeros-Mireles, Ramiro-Torres, Romanowski, and Soifils face maximum penalties of 12 months’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
Paez-Jerez faces maximum penalties of 11 years’ imprisonment, a $350,000 fine, and a term of supervised release following any term of imprisonment.
Sentencing for Paez-Jerez is scheduled for December 11, 2018, in New Bern, North Carolina.
Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Category: Election Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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