Election Fraud Cases

Paul Parana

Paul Parana of Canton was charged with impersonating a voter after he forged his daughter's signature on an absentee ballot in 2020 General Election. He pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor election law violation, was sentenced to 90 days’ probation, and ordered to pay $1,100 in fines and court costs.

Source: bit.ly/3cerLlk, bit.ly/3qXwhZB

Randy Allen Jumper

Randy Allen Jumper voted twice in the 2016 general election. He voted by absentee ballot in Arizona and again by absentee ballot in Nevada. He pleaded guilty to attempted illegal voting, a class 6 felony. He was sentenced to two years probation, fined $5,000, and is barred from voting in Arizona.

Source: bit.ly/3hZNpdt, bit.ly/2WCYBDI

Dyon Herrera

Dyon Hererra, of Espanola, conspired with Laura Seeds to falsify absentee ballots in support of Seeds' husband's candidacy for mayor in 2016. Hererra forged the signatures of his grandparents on absentee ballots. The candidate that he casted the ballots in favor of won the race by two votes. Herrera was charged with conspiracy to violate the municipal election code of Espanola, a fourth degree felony, and pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to 18 months probation.

Source: bit.ly/2vrkETH , bit.ly/39jnN6p, Case no. D-117-CR-201800047

Laura Seeds

Laura Seeds, of Espanola, conspired with Dyon Herrera to falsify several absentee ballots in favor of Seeds' husband, a city councilman who was running for mayor in 2016. Seeds was charged with two counts of making false statements relative to the municipal election code, one count of conspiracy to violate the municipal election code, and ten counts of possession of another person's absentee ballot. Seeds was found guilty of two counts of making false statements relative to the municipal election code and two counts of possession of another person's absentee ballot, which are all fourth degree felonies. She was sentenced to six months of house arrest, followed by five years of supervised probation.

Source: bit.ly/2VC4Sjo , bit.ly/3csaC5f, Case no. D-117-CR-201800048

Elbert Melton

Elbert Melton, the former mayor of Gordon, illegally notarized two ballots, without witnesses present, during the 2016 election in which he was running for mayor. Melton won that race by only 16 votes. Melton was convicted on two counts of absentee ballot fraud, was removed from office, and was sentenced to serve one year in prison followed by two years of probation.

Source: https://bitly.com/ bit.ly/2SPvL2X, bit.ly/30nEY2m, bit.ly/2TPo3Dt

Marjory Gale

Marjory Gale, of Hood River, voted twice in the 2016 election, once for herself and once for her daughter. Both votes were cast by absentee ballot. Gale pleaded guilty to a violation, and was ordered to pay a $750 fine.

Source: bit.ly/2YHZlKJ

Harry Sandoe Maxwell

Harry Maxwell, of Delaware County, was charged with absentee ballot fraud. In his confession, Maxwell said that he would pick up "girls" and get them to sign absentee ballots in the names of deceased indivduals. He pleaded guilty to one count of forgery, one count of false use of an absentee ballot, and two counts of criminal conspiracy, and was sentenced to two years' probation and ordered to pay $500 in fines.

Source: bit.ly/3hk13XH, bit.ly/3hh6BCf

Charles Nathan Jackson

Charles Nathan Jackson, of Tarrant County, forged the name of a stranger, Mardene Hickerson, on an application for an early voting ballot. Jackson pleaded guilty to providing false information on a voting application, a felony, as part of a plea deal to avoid an enhancement for previous drug and theft offenses. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail, and was given credit for time already served.

Source: bit.ly/2YNqBry, bit.ly/2MeoOF9

Troy Stevenson

Troy Stevenson was convicted of making a false statement on an absentee ballot as well as second degree forgery, both class D felonies. He committed this crime on October 28, 2017, in connection with the November 2017 mayoral election in Stafford. Stevenson was given a three year suspended sentence.

Source: bit.ly/2EXrYKs, bit.ly/2CWpFF5

Betty Chappell

Betty Chappell was convicted of making a false statement on an absentee ballot as well as second degree forgery, both class D felonies. She committed this crime on October 28, 2017, in connection with the November 2017 mayoral election in Stafford. Chappell received a five year suspended sentence.

Source: bit.ly/2EXrYKs, bit.ly/2CWpFF5

Bret Warren

Bret Warren, of Casselberry, entered a plea of nolo-contendere to two third-degree felony voter fraud charges. Warren's fraud was uncovered when five residents of Altamonte Springs noted they had not received their absentee ballots for the 2016 presidential election. The ballots had nonetheless been returned, and were filled out and signed. Investigators matched fingerprints on the envelope to Warren through a federal database, and DNA obtained from the envelope also matched Warren. Warren was charged with two counts of felony false swearing in connection with voting or elections, and after pleading nolo-contendere was sentenced to 154 days' imprisonment with credit for time served, and ordered to pay $468 in fees and court costs.

Source: bit.ly/2Db1jWo, bit.ly/2HQqsLQ (Case No. 2018CF001075A)

Ronald Henry

Ronald Henry, a 2015 candidate for trustee in Luther, Oklahoma, brought several absentee ballots to be notarized by Mayor Cecilia Taft. It is illegal for a ballot to be notarized without the person signing being present. Ronald Henry entered an Alford plea to the charges and received a five-year deferred sentence.

Source: bit.ly/2pQJdCy, bit.ly/2uAIbAg

Miguel Hernandez

Miguel Hernandez visited an elderly woman shortly before the 2017 Dallas City Council election, collected her blank absentee ballot, filled it out, and forged her signature before mailing it back. Hernandez was the first person arrested as part of a larger voter fraud investigation in the Dallas area, stemming from claims by elderly voters that someone was forging their signatures and the return of nearly 700 mail-in ballots all signed by the same witness using a fake name. Hernandez faced a felony illegal voting charge, but pleaded to a lesser misdemeanor offense of "method of returning marked ballot." He was sentenced to 180 days in jail and given credit for time served.

Source: bit.ly/2zaemWj, bit.ly/2zg2yl5

Richard Douglas Dohmen

Richard Douglas Dohmen, of James City County, committed voter fraud when he attempted to cast ballots for both himself and his dead wife in a 2018 state election. Dohmen was charged with forging public records and making false statements on required forms, and pleaded guilty to making false statements on required forms. He was sentenced to 1 year in the penitentiary, 3 years of unsupervised probation, and was ordered to pay a $458 fine.

Source: bit.ly/2J9vAsW, Case Number: CR19028447-00

Sarilu Sosa-Sanchez

Sarilu Sosa-Sanchez voted twice in the 2013 election, once in her own name and once in the name of her late mother. Sosa-Sanchez pleaded guilty to a felony forgery charge after admitting she forged her late mother's signature on a ballot. Sh also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor double voting charge. Sosa-Sanchez was sentenced to 60 hours of community service, was ordered to pay restitution and court fees, and will help the clerk and recorder's office educate other residents about the consequences of voter fraud.

Source: bit.ly/2jOyaue, bit.ly/2jRx1SR, bit.ly/2jN0MEb