Pair Charged for Alleged Voter Fraud Scheme on Behalf of Homeless People
Two men were charged for an alleged voter fraud scheme involving more than 8,000 fraudulent voter registrations for homeless people in Los Angeles, California.
One of the men involved in the alleged voter fraud scheme was a former potential mayoral candidate.
According to Daily Wire, 53-year-old Carlos Antonio De Bourbon Montenegro, A.K.A. Mark Anthony Gonsalves, was said to have submitted 8,000 fraudulent voter registration applications over a four-month period.
As part of the voter fraud scheme, he falsified names, addresses and signatures on nomination papers.
He is under penalty of perjury to run for major in Hawthorne, said a NBC Los Angeles report on Tuesday.
Reports say both Montenegro and co-defendant Marcos Raul Arevalo were "trying to get the registrar's office to send them mail in ballots for the fake voters" but none of the voters were ever actually cast.
The charge alleges that Montenegro filed nomination papers with 41 signatures and addresses, but only 18 of the names, addresses and signatures were validated by the Los Angeles County Registrar- Recorder's Office.
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Also part of the conspiracy charge was allegations that Montenegro filed signed write-in candidate nomination papers with 32 signatures and addresses for fictitious, non-existent or deceased people.
The registrar was quick to notice this and flagged the applications since nobody actually voted using the ballots.
41 Criminal Complaints Charged
Montenegro was set for arraignment on Tuesday in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom with a total of 32 felony counts.
Those felonies include 18 counts of voter fraud, 11 for procuring false or forged instrument, two for perjury and one for conspiracy to commit voter fraud.
He was also charged with nine misdemeanor counts for interference with a prompt transfer of a completed affidavit, according to the District Attorney's Office
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Overall, both he and Arevalo have 41 criminal complaints for the fraudulent applications, said a report from The Antelope Valley Times.
The case was filed for warrant on November 12.
Arevalo also faces several charges: eight counts of voter fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit voter fraud, four counts of procuring and offering a false or forged instrument and four misdemeanor counts of interference with a prompt transfer of a completed affidavit.
Defendants Face at Least Seven Years in Prison
If Montenegro gets convicted as charged, he will face a maximum of 15 years and eight months in state prison. On the other hand, Arevalo may serve a maximum of seven years in prison.
The case is still under investigation by the District Attorney's Bureau of Investigation as the public Integrity Division prosecutes the case.
Several other groups also assisted in the initial investigation, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the California Secretary of State's Office, Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's Office and others.
As per data from the California Secretary of State, there are over 20 million people registered to vote in the state as of February this year.
Some nine million were registered with the Democratic Party and almost five million were registered as Republicans. Around five million people were not registered under a party preference.
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