Robert J. Higdon, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina on Friday announced 19 foreign nationals were charged with, among other alleged crimes, voting by alien for their actions prior to and on Nov. 8, 2016. A 20th defendant was charged with aiding and abetting a fellow defendant in falsely claiming citizenship to register to vote.
A federal grand jury in Wilmington, North Carolina returned Indictments charging the following foreign nationals with false claim of United States citizenship to register to vote, and voting by an alien:
- Jose Cruz Solano-Rodriguez, 41, Mexico;
- Guadalupe Espinosa-Pena, 63, Mexico;
- Sarah Emilia Silverio-Polanco, 35, the Dominican Republic;
- Elizabeth Nene Amachaghi, 44, Nigeria;
- Maria Rufina Castillo-Boswell, 31, Philippines;
- Dora Maybe Damatta-Rodriguez, 64, Panama;
- Elvis David Fullerton, 54, Grenada;
- Olive Agatha Martin, 71, Guyana;
- Kaoru Sauls, age 54, Japan.
Criminal charges of voting by an alien were filed against the following:
- Jose Jaime Ramiro-Torres, 52, El Salvador;
- Juan Francisco Landeros-Mireles, 64, Mexico;
- Alessandro Cannizzaro, 46, Italy;
- Dieudonne Soifils, 71, Haiti;
- Hyo Suk George, 69, Korea;
- Merius Jean, 54, Haiti;
- Rosemarie Angelika Harris, 60, Germany;
- Daniel Tadeusz Romanowski, 39, Poland.
A federal grand jury returned an Indictment charging an 18th defendant, Diana Patricia Franco-Rodriguez, 26, of Mexico, with alleged fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents, and voting by an alien.
A federal grand jury returned an Indictment charging Denslo Allen Paige, 66, with allegedly aiding and abetting Espinosa-Pena in falsely claiming United States citizenship to register to vote.
On Aug. 14, Ramon Esteban Paez-Jerez, 58, of the Dominican Republic, was charged and pleaded guilty to a two-count Criminal Information charging him with passport fraud and voting by an alien.
According to the Criminal Information, Paez-Jerez in 1988 was ordered deported from the U.S. and failed to appear for his scheduled removal. According to court records, Paez-Jerez assumed a fraudulent identity and applied for amnesty. In 1989 he was granted lawful permanent status under the false identity and in 1999 was naturalized contrary to law as a United States citizen. On July 7, 2007, Paez-Jerez registered to vote in North Carolina under his fraudulent identity, the DOJ said.
On Sept. 16, 2009, Paez-Jerez made a false statement in an application for a United States passport when he applied under the fraudulent identity and failed to disclose his real name.
On Nov. 8, 2016, Paez-Jerez illegally voted in the General Election of 2016 in Wake County, knowing he had illegally obtained United States citizenship.
The charges and allegations in the Indictments and Criminal Informations are merely accusations. An Indictment is a formal written accusation originating with the United States Attorney and issued by a Grand Jury against a party charged with a crime. A Criminal Information is a formal written accusation filed directly by the United States Attorney. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
