‘Let This Be A Warning’: DOJ Announces Charges For Election-Related Crimes Across Several States

The federal government just told noncitizens who cast ballots in American elections that prosecutors are coming for them.

Read more Dem Lawmakers Demand Federal Probe Into ‘Modern-Day Lynchings’ That Are Anything But

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Friday it had charged 16 people in seven states with illegally voting, registering to vote through false citizenship claims, and related fraud, according to a press release from the department’s Office of Public Affairs. Many of the accused are noncitizens alleged to have voted in federal contests.

The department paired the filings with a blunt message on social media. “Let this be a warning to ANYONE trying to cheat and undermine our elections,” the DOJ wrote. “Spread the word!” (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: ICE Arrests Another Noncitizen With Lengthy Criminal Record Who Voted In US Elections)

Prosecutors brought cases in Texas, Idaho, Georgia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Michigan, the DOJ said. Investigators working the files also turned up alleged wire fraud, passport and identification fraud, and unlawful firearm purchases.

In Georgia, DOJ said Analiea Milliscent Eccles, a 44-year-old Venezuelan national and DACA recipient, voted nine times between 2008 and 2024 and now faces counts of voting as a noncitizen and falsely claiming citizenship. A federal grand jury in Boise indicted Idaho’s Avila Gomez, a Mexican national, on a stack of charges that includes wire fraud, passport fraud and firearm offenses after he allegedly voted in 2022 and 2024.

Read more Supreme Court Likely To Invoke 5 Major Decisions In Landmark Semi-Auto Gun Ruling

New Jersey’s Santana Coulibaly, a lawful permanent resident, registered in 2016, voted in 2018 and 2020, and submitted a provisional ballot last year, according to the department. Eight of the defendants live in Texas.

Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Fraud Division told Fox News the administration has now charged 50 noncitizens with illegal voting. “America’s elections are for Americans,” McDonald said.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Fox News investigators have topped 1,620 open cases, made 151 arrests, and are reviewing more than 300,000 suspected cases. “One is too many, but the fact that we have 300,000 cases we’re looking into right now and 1,620 cases that are under investigation, and 151 arrests is unacceptable,” Mullin said.

The department stressed the charges are accusations and every defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Read more Washington State’s Supreme Court Just Struck Down A Voter-Backed Pro-Natural Gas Measure