Election Fraud Cases

Gladys Coego, a temporary worker in the Miami-Dade County elections department during the November 2016 election, pleaded guilty to filling out the mail-in ballots of other voters in favor of Republican mayoral candidate Raquel Regalado. While she admitted to altering the ballots of at least two individuals, detectives believe that Coego likely fraudulently marked numerous other absentee ballots. She was sentenced to two years of house arrest.

Former Eatonville Mayor Anthony Grant was convicted of a felony voting fraud charge, a felony election violation, and misdemeanor absentee voting violations. During the 2015 election while he was running for election, he coerced absentee voters to cast ballots for him. In at least one case, Grant personally solicited an absentee vote from a non-resident of Eatonville. Grant, who had previously served as mayor, lost the in-person vote, but still won the election with more than twice the number of absentee ballots than were cast for incumbent Bruce Mount. Following his indictment, Grant was suspended by Florida Governor Rick Scott. He was sentenced to 400 hours of community service and four years' probation.

Mia Antoinette Nowells, a campaign worker for former Eatonville Mayor Anthony Grant, was found guilty of coercing Layota Jackson to vote for Grant in the 2015 election. Nowells was charged with intimidating voters and tampering with absentee ballots. She was sentenced to two years' probation and 200 hours of community service.

Newton, a serial fraudster, was convicted of embezzlement, insurance fraud, and voter fraud, and sentenced to eight years in prison and 15 years' probation after violating her probation stemming from a 2009 case in which she stole $400,000 from her employer. The vote fraud charges stemmed from registering to vote without informing election officials that she was a convicted felon.

Eric Haynes, a Lauderdale Lakes City Commissioner, voted using a false address in the 2012 general election. He had moved to a different precinct before Election Day, but he still certified at the polls that he was living at his former address. He was fined $500 by the Florida Election Commission.

William Hazard, 53, of West Boynton, pleaded guilty to one felony voter registration charge and three misdemeanor charges of attempting to submit false voter registration information. He was initially charged with multiple counts of false voter registration. He was sentenced to 10 days in the county jail, 36 months' probation, and was ordered to pay a $7,500 fine. Hazard was hired by a consulting firm to register Republican voters; in the process he illegally switched party registrations for multiple voters and even registered his uncle, an Iowa resident, to vote in Florida.

James Webb Baker, of Seattle, pleaded guilty to ID Fraud and intimidation of voters. Responding to perceived suppression of Hispanic voters who favored Democrat candidates, Baker mailed fake county election documents to Palm Beach County, Florida, residents demanding proof of citizenship to avoid having their voter registrations cancelled. Nearly 200 residents were targeted, all with connections to the Republican Party.

Deisy Cabrera pleaded guilty to charges of being an absentee ballot broker (boletera) as part of a massive absentee voter fraud scheme. Her notebook contained the names and addresses of over 500 voters who were mostly elderly Hispanics in Hialeah. The lists, titled Deisy's Voters, reportedly included information as to whether the voter was illiterate or was blind, deaf, or had Alzheimer's. She was sentenced to one year of probation.

Chief of Staff to Florida Rep. Joe Garcia (D_26), Jeffrey Garcia, resigned and pleaded guilty to orchestrating a plot involving the submission of hundreds of fraudulent absentee-ballot requests during the primary in 2012. Garcia was sentenced to 90 days in prison and 18 months' probation. He was ordered to spend the first three months of probation under house arrest.

Onakia Lanet Griffin, a convicted felon who was not eligible to vote, was convicted of two counts of voter fraud and one count of false swearing. Griffin had previously been convicted of wire fraud, identification theft, and identity fraud. Griffin registered to vote on June 5, 2012, and falsely claimed that she was not a convicted felon. She subsequently admitted to voting in the 2012 presidential election. Griffin was sentenced to a fine of $1079.50 and 23 days' incarceration.

Rebekah Joy Paul pleaded guilty to falsifying voter registrations prior to the 2012 general election. While employed as a voter registration worker with a political consulting firm hired by the Republican Party, she created false voter registrations. She and her co-conspirator admitted to faking 27 registrations for Duval County. She was sentenced to community service.

Christian David Price, a campaign worker in Florida, pleaded guilty to falsifying voter registrations in the 2012 election. While employed as voter registration worker with a political consulting firm hired by the Republican Party, he created false voter registrations. He and his co-conspirator admitted to faking 27 registrations for Duval County. He was sentenced to community service.

Josef Sever was charged and convicted of illegal voting. Sever was a Canadian citizen who nonetheless cast a ballot in two presidential elections. He also lied about his citizenship status to obtain a firearm. He was convicted and sentenced to five months in prison and almost certain deportation to Canada.

Sergio Robaina (the uncle of former Hialeah mayor) was charged with illegally collecting absentee ballots, a misdemeanor, and with felony voter fraud charges for allegedly filling out a ballot against the wishes of two voters, one of them a woman with dementia. Robaina pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of illegal possession of absentee ballots and was sentenced to one year of probation.

ACORN voter registration canvassers Maurice Childress, Kashawn John, Liltovia Rhodes, Carlos Torres, Evangeline Williams, Lilkevia Williams, and Richard Williams, were convicted of false swearing in an election in Miami as part of a scheme to submit fraudulent voter registration applications. They received sentences ranging from 72 days to 10 months in prison.

Greg "Charlie" Burke was found guilty of voter fraud in the third degree, a felony, for living and voting in one county while holding an elected post in another. He was sentenced to two years' probation.

Mohsin Ali, a non-citizen, pleaded guilty to unlawful voting by an alien. Ali was sentenced to two years' probation, and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and a $25 court fee.

On May 18, 2005, a jury found Usman Ali Chaudhary, also known as Usman Ali, guilty of making a false claim regarding his citizenship status on his driver's license and voter registration applications. Chaudhary was sentenced to three years' probation, $3,000 in fines, and $100 in court costs.

In Miami-Dade County, legal permanent resident Ricardo Knight admitted to immigration officials that he had voted in the extremely close 2000 presidential election. He was convicted and sentenced to a year of probation and fined $500.

Egbert Rickman entered a plea of no contest to a charge that he knowingly voted in an election despite being a non-citizen. Rickman was sentenced to six months of probation and ordered to pay a $250 fine.

Astrid Natalia Torres-Perez pleaded guilty to charges that she voted despite being a non-citizen and therefore ineligible. She was sentenced to one year of probation.

Kenneth Bennett pleaded guilty to knowingly voting in a U.S. election while not a U.S. citizen. He was sentenced to three months' probation, barred from owning a firearm, and assessed a $250 fine.

Elizabeth Bain Knight pleaded guilty to election fraud. She had voted in a U.S. election despite the fact that she was not a citizen. She was sentenced to three months' probation, barred from owning a firearm, and fined $250.

Jobero Lubin pleaded guilty to knowingly voting in a U.S. election while not a U.S. citizen. He was sentenced to one year's probation.

Syble McKenzie pleaded guilty to election fraud after she voted despite being a non-citizen. She was sentenced to one year's probation and 30 hours' community service.

Jerry St. Clair O'Neil pleaded guilty to knowingly voting in a U.S. election while not a U.S. citizen. He was sentenced to one year's probation and fined $250.

Christiana Phillips was convicted of voting in a U.S. election while not a U.S. citizen. She was sentenced to three months' probation.

Troy Shivdayal pleaded guilty to knowingly voting in a U.S. election while not a U.S. citizen. He was sentenced to one year's probation and fined $250.

Rafael Antonio Velasquez, a former candidate for the Florida House, was convicted in 2003 for having voted twice before he became a U.S. citizen.

Hialeah Gardens Mayor Gilda Oliveros was convicted of six charges that ranged from voter fraud to asking two of her former employees to murder her then-husband so she could cash in on a $45,000 life insurance policy. She was sentenced to 4.8 years in state prison, but was released on a $100,000 bond to appeal her sentence.

Jose De Goti Sr. pleaded guilty to four counts of felony voter fraud for falsely registering a Miami police officer and his wife so they could cast fraudulent ballots in the 1997 Miami mayoral election. He was sentenced to six months in jail, six months of house arrest, and one year of probation, in addition to a $10,000 fine.

Humberto Hernandez was convicted of being an accessory to covering up fraud and removed from office after it was discovered that hundreds of fraudulent absentee ballots were cast in his favor. He was sentenced to a one-year prison term.

The results of the 1993 mayoral election in Hialeah were voided by a Dade County judge after the discovery of several forged absentee ballots. The judge found that one of the candidates had a 2-to-1 advantage in absentee ballots, which he attributed to "overzealous" campaign workers at an elderly home in addition to several non-residents and mentally incompetent people voting.

Three campaign supporters illegally submitted absentee ballots during the 1992 Hardee County sheriff election. Although a grand jury found that no criminal intent was involved, the election was thrown out and a new one was ordered.

Deszi Marquis Hayes, an inmate at the Indian River County Jail, voted by mail from jail during the 2016 election. Hayes was serving a nine-month sentence following a felony traffic conviction, and Florida state law does not permit convicted felons to vote. Nevertheless, Hayes was able to request and cast a ballot because the process to remove him from the voter rolls had not yet been completed.

While working for People United for Medical Marijuana, Tomika Curgil submitted at least 15 fake voter registrations - using both fake names and names of the deceased - and five voter registrations which she filled out without the voters' consent. When investigators surveilled Curgil during a registration campaign day, she did not leave her house; however, she still submitted several absentee ballots. She was found guilty and given probation.

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.