Five lawful permanent residents are facing federal charges after prosecutors say they knowingly cast ballots despite not being United States citizens.
The defendants appeared in northern New York on October 13 and 14, turning a debate that is too often dismissed as hypothetical into five concrete criminal cases.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York identified the defendants as Vikki Bradt, 51, and Samantha Merkle, 55, both British nationals; Suad Sasic, 30, a Bosnian national; and Jacques Patry, 64, and Paula Stitt, 57, both Canadian nationals.
All five are lawful permanent residents. That status allows them to live and work in the United States, but it does not confer the right to vote in federal elections.
The complaints allege each defendant knew that he or she was not a U.S. citizen and knowingly voted in an election held partly to choose a president, vice president, U.S. senator or member of the House.
Voting by an alien carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. Any actual sentence would depend on the statute, federal guidelines and the facts a judge finds at sentencing.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III announced the cases with Homeland Security Investigations Buffalo Acting Special Agent in Charge Anthony Patrone.
The allegations span communities from the North Country to the Capital Region. Prosecutors did not frame the cases as paperwork mistakes; they specifically alleged knowledge and intentional voting.
The five New York cases were not announced in isolation.
In a broader same-day release, the Justice Department disclosed charges involving 16 aliens in North Carolina, New York and Idaho. The alleged conduct includes voting by noncitizens and false claims of citizenship made to register or vote.
Ten defendants were charged in eastern North Carolina. Prosecutors allege some voted in multiple elections over many years, including one lawful permanent resident accused of voting in general elections dating back to 2008 and another accused of voting in elections dating back to 1998.
The department also charged a Canadian lawful permanent resident in Idaho with allegedly voting in the 2022 general election. The five northern New York defendants make up the rest of the 16 cases announced Friday.
Sixteen alleged illegal votes may not determine a national election. Their scale does not erase the law.
We do not excuse bank fraud because the bank survived, and we do not ignore identity theft because the victim eventually caught it.
The vote of one eligible citizen deserves protection from every unlawful ballot, whether the total is one, sixteen or sixteen thousand.
These prosecutions also reveal why citizenship verification and accurate voter rolls should be treated as basic administrative duties, not partisan provocations. A system that checks eligibility before a ballot is cast protects citizens and lawful immigrants alike from the damage of avoidable criminal cases.
Due process still controls the courtroom. The complaints and indictments are accusations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless the government proves guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
But the public is entitled to see the enforcement record clearly. Noncitizen voting is illegal, prosecutors say these defendants crossed that line knowingly, and the Trump Justice Department is putting those allegations before federal judges instead of pretending the problem cannot exist.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up. View the original article here.
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[ H/T WLT Report ]
