2 foreign nationals, 2 illegal aliens charged with election fraud in Pennsylvania

The Department of Justice announced Thursday that the four defendants are Haitian national Cliff Sanon, Mexican national Dilea Ochoa-Perez, Trinidad and Tobago national Sade Guppy, and Mexican national Eduardo Gallardo Maldonado. Sanon and Ochoa-Perez are illegal aliens, according to the DOJ, while Guppy and Maldonado are lawful permanent residents.

“Our sovereignty as a nation belongs to the American people and no one else,” US Attorney David Metcalf said. “Anyone, including illegal aliens, who votes illegally in our elections will be prosecuted for corrupting our democracy.”

Sanon, 39, an illegal alien from Haiti residing in Philadelphia, was charged by criminal complaint with one count of submitting a fraudulent voter registration application.

Federal prosecutors allege Sanon submitted a voter registration application in Philadelphia County in February 2026 ahead of Pennsylvania's May primary despite being a Haitian citizen and not a US citizen. According to the criminal complaint, the application was one of eight fraudulent voter registration applications allegedly submitted by Sanon. Prosecutors also allege Sanon voted in the November 2022 election. If convicted, Sanon faces up to five years in prison, one year of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment.

Ochoa-Perez, 43, an illegal alien from Mexico residing in Coatesville, was charged with two counts of voting as an alien. According to prosecutors, Ochoa-Perez allegedly voted in Chester County in both the November 2022 and November 2024 general elections, despite being a Mexican citizen and not an American citizen at the time of either election. If convicted, she faces a maximum of two years in prison, one year of supervised release, a $200,000 fine, and a $50 special assessment.

Federal authorities also charged two lawful permanent residents with voting as noncitizens.

Guppy, 37, a national of Trinidad and Tobago, was charged with one count of voting as an alien. Prosecutors allege she voted in Philadelphia County during the November 2022 general election despite not being a US citizen.

Maldonado, 66, a Mexican national and lawful permanent resident, was similarly charged with one count of voting as an alien. According to federal prosecutors, Maldonado voted in Philadelphia County during the November 2024 general election while he was not a US citizen.

Each faces a maximum of one year in prison, one year of supervised release, a $100,000 fine, and a $25 special assessment if convicted.

“Voting by noncitizens is illegal and has real consequences for the American public,” HSI Philadelphia Special Agent in Charge Nathan Abel said. “Every unlawful ballot can undermine confidence in the election process and diminish the voices of American citizens. HSI Philadelphia remains committed to working with our law enforcement partners to investigate election-related fraud and help protect the integrity of U.S. elections.”

The charges come weeks after Homeland Security Investigations launched a coordinated voter fraud crackdown across nine states, including Pennsylvania. The initiative directed federal investigators to pursue leads, interview witnesses, and assist prosecutors in building cases involving suspected illegal voter registration and voting.

Earlier this month, the DOJ announced charges against five people in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Wisconsin related to alleged illegal voting or fraudulent registration in the 2022 or 2024 elections. Among them were two illegal aliens. In Pennsylvania, federal prosecutors charged Marisol Guzman with voting as an alien in the 2024 election and her husband, US citizen Thomas Holtzman, with aiding and abetting a false statement of citizenship to vote and fraudulent registration.

The DOJ announced an even larger enforcement action last week, charging 16 people across the country with illegal voting, illegal voter registration, and related election crimes. The cases included noncitizens accused of voting in federal elections and falsely claiming US citizenship to register or vote. One Venezuelan illegal alien and DACA recipient in Georgia was accused of voting nine times between 2008 and 2024.

On Sept. 20, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said there were 1,620 cases involving alleged illegal noncitizen voting under investigation, 151 arrests, and more than 300,000 suspected cases being reviewed.

Pennsylvania has also seen other recent cases.

On Sept. 16, Evelyn Miller, a Philippine citizen and lawful permanent resident living in Emmaus, pleaded guilty to illegally voting in the 2024 general election. Miller is scheduled to be sentenced in December and faces up to one year in prison.

In March, federal prosecutors charged Mahady Sacko, an illegal alien living in Philadelphia who had been ordered deported in 2000. Prosecutors alleged Sacko falsely represented himself as a US citizen to register to vote and then voted in person in the 2024 federal election. He faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

Federal prosecutors also charged Philippine citizen Emily Custodio in 2025 with voter fraud and voting as an alien. According to the indictment, Custodio allegedly answered “Yes” when asked whether she was a US citizen on a Pennsylvania online voter-registration application in July 2020. Her application was accepted, and prosecutors allege she subsequently appeared at a Philadelphia polling place and cast a ballot in the 2020 presidential election.

The prosecutions come amid an ongoing federal dispute over Pennsylvania's voter rolls and a broader push by the Trump administration to verify the citizenship of registered voters. The administration announced in July that states seeking more than $1 billion in Homeland Security grant funding would be required to verify the citizenship of registered voters and election workers using the federal SAVE database.

In September 2025, the Justice Department sued Pennsylvania and five other states after they declined to provide their statewide voter-registration lists to federal authorities. DOJ said it was seeking the records as part of its enforcement of federal voter-list maintenance laws.

In its complaint against Pennsylvania, the Justice Department said it had specifically sought information about how the state identifies and removes registrants who are ineligible because they are noncitizens. According to the federal complaint, Pennsylvania's response “did not explain whether non-citizens were identified and what steps were taken to remove those voters.” DOJ also alleged that Pennsylvania acknowledged that when the state could not verify an identification number supplied by an applicant, the applicant would nevertheless be registered to vote.