Federal voting fraud charges were filed in Wilmington, N.C., Friday against 19 foreign nationals who allegedly voted in the 2016 election. A 20th person was charged with aiding and abetting one of the 19 in falsely claiming U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote.
The 19 were from Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Nigeria, the Philippines, Panama, Grenada, Guyana, Japan, El Salvador, Italy, Haiti, Korea, Germany and Poland. They ranged in age from 26 to 71.
Nine of the defendants were charged with making a false claim of citizenship in order to register to vote. Eight were charged with "voting by an alien."
One of the 19 was charged with fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other
documents as well as with voting by an alien.
Paez-Jerez faces 11 years in prison and a $350,000 fine. He is to be sentenced Dec. 11 in New Bern.
The maximum penalties for the others range from six to 26 years in prison, with maximum fines of $100,000 to $350,000.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the cases are being investigated by the newly created Document and Benefit Fraud Task Force in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
North Carolina elections officials reported in 2017 that they had found that about 500 ineligible voters cast ballots in the 2016 general election
https://www.wral.com/feds-file-votin...nals/17792928/