The Department of Justice of the United States filed criminal charges this Thursday against two immigrants in Pennsylvania for offenses related to election fraud, including illegal voting and fraudulent voter registration.
Two of the defendants are undocumented immigrants, and two are legal permanent residents.
The cases were investigated by the Homeland Security Investigations Office (HSI) and announced by federal prosecutor David Metcalf from the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, as part of an election integrity campaign initiated by the Trump administration in anticipation of the midterm elections on November 3, 2026.
Cliff Sanon, 39 years old, a Haitian immigrant without legal status residing in Philadelphia, faces the most serious charge: he is accused of having submitted a fraudulent voter registration application in February 2026, before the May primaries, and of having voted in November 2022.
According to the accusation, that request was one of eight that he allegedly submitted fraudulently. If convicted, he could face up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
Dilea Ochoa-Perez, 43 years old, a Mexican immigrant without legal status residing in Coatesville, was charged with two counts of voting as a foreigner: one for the general elections in November 2022 and another for those in November 2024, both in Chester County. The maximum penalty she faces is two years in prison and a $200,000 fine.
The other two defendants are legal permanent residents. Sade Guppy, 37 years old, a national of Trinidad and Tobago, was accused of voting illegally in Philadelphia County in November 2022.
Eduardo Gallardo Maldonado, 66 years old, a Mexican citizen, faces a similar charge for having voted in the same county in November 2024. Both could face up to a year in prison and fines of $100,000 each.
Metcalf was emphatic in announcing the charges: "The sovereignty of our nation belongs to the American people and no one else."
"Anyone, including illegal immigrants, who votes illegally in our elections will be prosecuted for corrupting our democracy."
For his part, Nathan Abel, special agent in charge of HSI Philadelphia, warned that "every illegal vote can undermine trust in the electoral process and diminish the voice of American citizens."
This announcement is part of a series of federal actions in September 2026: on the 18th, the DOJ filed charges against 16 individuals for illegal voting and election fraud schemes in multiple states, and on the 14th, it indicted six individuals in California, Kansas, and Louisiana.
According to Reuters, the Trump administration has filed charges against about 20 individuals just in September under the federal law that prohibits voting by foreigners, which accounts for 13% of all accusations under that statute in three decades.
This is not the first time that immigrants have faced legal consequences for this type of crime. The Cuban Roberto Figueredo pleaded guilty in June 2026 to registering and voting illegally in a federal election in Florida.
Months ago, a Cuban woman was sentenced in Arkansas to five years in prison for perjury and violation of electoral eligibility laws.
The DOJ clarified that the charges filed are mere accusations and that all the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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