Six people have been charged in separate federal election-related cases in California, Kansas and Louisiana, according to a Justice Department announcement released Monday.
The allegations include using stolen voter identities to manufacture ballot-petition signatures, registering an ineligible person to vote and voting in federal elections as a noncitizen. The charges concern separate alleged activities rather than a coordinated multistate operation.
In California, a federal grand jury indicted James Brass, 47, of Victorville; Courtney Price, 49, of Jacksonville, Florida; and Jateisha Herron, 33, of Boron, California.
Prosecutors allege the three participated in a scheme to obtain fraudulent signatures for proposed California ballot initiatives. Brass and Price allegedly gave people on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles stolen identities belonging to registered voters and paid them to copy those voters’ information and signatures onto petitions.
Brass and Herron allegedly submitted petitions after falsely declaring that they had personally witnessed the registered voters sign them. The Justice Department did not identify the proposed initiative involved or say whether it qualified for the ballot.
Prosecutors said Brass received approximately $41,600 from coordinators working with one petition-management company. Each California defendant is charged with conspiracy to commit identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony. Brass and Price also face an additional identity-fraud count.
Each count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison upon conviction.
In Kansas, Mariana Alexandra Dewey, 24, a Peruvian citizen and lawful permanent resident, was charged with voting in the November 2024 election despite allegedly being ineligible because she was not a U.S. citizen.
The indictment alleges Dewey falsely represented herself as a citizen while registering to vote and later cast a ballot containing federal, state and local races. She faces counts involving a false citizenship claim, falsely claiming citizenship to vote, fraudulent election conduct and voting as a noncitizen in a federal election.
In Louisiana, federal prosecutors charged Bridget Johnson, 53, of Cotton Valley, and Michael Wedderburn, 52, a Jamaican citizen.
Johnson, who was a candidate for Cotton Valley mayor in 2024, allegedly submitted an electronic voter-registration application in Wedderburn’s name on July 14, 2024, falsely identifying him as a U.S. citizen. Wedderburn allegedly voted in the Nov. 5, 2024, election, including in a federal race and the Cotton Valley mayoral contest.
Johnson faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison if convicted. Wedderburn faces up to one year in prison and possible financial penalties.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said the department would prosecute people accused of “gaming the election system, voting illegally, or committing voter fraud.”
The FBI is investigating the California and Louisiana cases, with assistance from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office in the latter case. Homeland Security Investigations is handling the Kansas case.
The indictments contain allegations and do not establish guilt. All six defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
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