The Justice Department has filed election-related charges against five people in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Wisconsin, turning a set of separate allegations from the 2022 and 2024 elections into a coordinated federal announcement.

The defendants include four noncitizens accused of casting ballots and one U.S. citizen accused of helping his wife register and vote. Newly released footage also shows federal agents taking one of the Pennsylvania defendants into custody.

The Justice Department announced the five cases together on Friday, September 4. The allegations cover voting in the November 2022 general election, the June 2024 primary, and the November 2024 general election.

Across the three states, prosecutors allege illegal voting, fraudulent registration, false citizenship claims, or aiding and abetting. The investigations involved HSI, the FBI, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, with separate U.S. Attorney’s Offices handling the prosecutions.

In Pennsylvania, prosecutors charged Thomas Holtzman, 68, and his wife, Marisol Guzman, 50, of Carlisle. Guzman is accused of voting as an alien in the 2024 election.

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Holtzman, a U.S. citizen, is accused of making a false citizenship statement and aiding and abetting fraudulent registration.

Holtzman faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years if convicted, while Guzman faces up to one year. Those maximums are not predictions of any sentence; a judge would determine punishment after considering federal law and the sentencing guidelines.

A separate federal grand jury indictment charges Katya Rodriguez, 30, a Mexican national living in Harrisburg, with making a false statement of citizenship to vote, fraudulent registration, and voting as an alien in the 2024 election.

Rodriguez faces a combined maximum of 11 years in prison if convicted. Homeland Security Investigations handled the Pennsylvania cases, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania prosecuting them.

Fox News Digital published the HSI-credited footage on September 4 after the Justice Department announced the five cases. The video shows federal agents beside a vehicle as Rodriguez, wearing hand restraints, is escorted toward an open rear door in Harrisburg.

The report identifies Rodriguez as the person in the footage and connects the arrest to the Pennsylvania indictment. It also distinguishes the individual allegations from the broader three-state announcement, which covers separate conduct in two election cycles.

The video documents the arrest, but the criminal case still rests on the evidence presented in court. The indictment is an accusation, and Rodriguez is presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

In New Jersey, prosecutors charged Mercedes Alexandra Cardoso, 41, of Union County with voting by an alien in a federal election.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey alleges Cardoso registered through the state’s online voter system and falsely certified that she was a U.S. citizen. Prosecutors say she entered the country from Ecuador on a B-2 visa and was not a citizen when she voted in the June 2024 primary.

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That primary included candidates seeking the offices of president and vice president. Cardoso faces up to one year in prison if convicted and is scheduled for an initial court appearance on September 8.

The Wisconsin case concerns Jesus Javier Jurado Garcia, 25, a Mexican national living in Beloit. Federal prosecutors charged him on September 2 with voting as an alien in the November 2022 election.

According to the federal information, Jurado Garcia allegedly knew he was not a U.S. citizen when he cast a ballot in an election that included races for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. He also faces a maximum sentence of one year if convicted.

Attorney General Todd Blanche said federal election law is meant to protect voting as a right reserved for eligible citizens. FBI Director Kash Patel said the cases represent alleged unlawful votes rather than a finding about any broader election result.

The five prosecutions span different people, different states, and two election cycles. The Justice Department presented them together as part of its election-integrity enforcement work, but each defendant will face a separate legal process based on the evidence and charges in that individual case.

Complaints, indictments, and criminal informations contain allegations only. Every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.

 

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