16 charged in federal voting crackdown

The Justice Department announced charges against 16 people nationwide for illegal voting and related election crimes on September 18. Eight defendants are in Texas, including one undocumented immigrant and seven lawful permanent residents.

“When individuals who are not citizens cast ballots or falsely claim citizenship, they violate federal law.”

Seven North Texas defendants face charges

Seven defendants in the Northern District of Texas were indicted on September 10 or charged by criminal complaint on September 11. Six are lawful permanent residents and one is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico with a final removal order from July.

Tarrant County ballot casting allegations

Carlos Salas Barrios and Celestin Katubadi allegedly cast provisional ballots in Tarrant County during the 2024 general election, but election officials rejected both ballots. Federal law still prohibited them from casting the ballots, prosecutors said.

Naturalization fraud charge in North Texas

Joshua Nmelichukwu Akpom faces a false-statements charge connected to his 2026 naturalization application. He allegedly denied claiming U.S. citizenship, registering to vote, or voting, despite registering in 2017 and voting in 2018.

Del Rio defendant cast early ballot

Monica Ivette Carzoli Carillo, a 46-year-old Mexican national and lawful permanent resident since December 5, 2023, allegedly cast an early ballot at the Del Rio Civic Center on October 26, 2024. She admitted registering and voting in a sworn statement to Customs and Border Protection officers.

Georgia defendant voted nine times

Analiea Milliscent Eccles, an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, is accused of voting nine times from 2008 through 2024. She is one of eight defendants charged outside Texas.

Other charges include fraud and firearm crimes

Beyond voting charges, defendants face allegations including wire fraud, theft of government funds, passport fraud, identification-document fraud and firearm offenses. The remaining defendants are spread across Idaho, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Michigan.