The Justice Department announced five election-related criminal cases across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Wisconsin on Friday, September 4, bringing together allegations involving voting and voter registration during the 2022 and 2024 election cycles. The defendants have not been convicted, and the allegations will now have to be proved in court.
According to the Justice Department, four of the defendants are noncitizens accused of voting illegally, while the fifth is a U.S. citizen accused of assisting his wife with allegedly fraudulent registration. The cases involve separate defendants and conduct, rather than a single alleged conspiracy.
In Pennsylvania, federal prosecutors charged Thomas Holtzman, 68, and his wife, Marisol Guzman, 50, both of Carlisle. Prosecutors allege Guzman voted as a noncitizen in the 2024 election. Holtzman, who is a U.S. citizen, was charged with making a false statement of citizenship in order to vote and with aiding and abetting fraudulent registration. If convicted, Holtzman faces a statutory maximum of 10 years in prison, while Guzman faces a maximum of one year.
A separate Pennsylvania indictment charges Katya Rodriguez, 30, a Mexican national living in Harrisburg, with making a false citizenship statement to vote, fraudulent registration and voting as an alien in the 2024 election. The Justice Department says Rodriguez faces combined statutory maximum penalties totaling 11 years if convicted. HSI investigated the Pennsylvania cases.
New Jersey prosecutors, meanwhile, charged Mercedes Alexandra Cardoso, 41, of Union County. According to the criminal complaint, Cardoso registered using New Jersey’s online voter registration system and falsely certified that she was a U.S. citizen. Prosecutors allege that Cardoso, who entered the United States from Ecuador on a B-2 visa, subsequently voted in the June 2024 primary despite not being a citizen.
That election included contests involving candidates seeking the presidency and vice presidency. Cardoso faces a maximum sentence of one year if convicted and is scheduled for an initial appearance on September 8. The FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services participated in the investigation.
The Wisconsin prosecution involves Jesus Javier Jurado Garcia, 25, a Mexican national living in Beloit. Prosecutors allege Jurado Garcia knowingly voted while not a U.S. citizen in the November 2022 election, which included federal races for the Senate and House. He faces a maximum sentence of one year if convicted.
Attorney General Todd Blanche described election integrity as “fundamental to democracy” and said election fraud should be treated as a serious crime. FBI Director Kash Patel similarly said protecting election integrity is a priority for the bureau.
The announcement provides concrete examples of federal authorities pursuing alleged violations of election law, but it does not establish that illegal voting affected the outcome of either the 2022 or 2024 elections. Nor does announcing the cases together transform them into evidence of a coordinated voting scheme. They involve different defendants, states and elections, and each case will proceed according to its own evidence.
That distinction matters. Election laws are supposed to be enforced, and allegations of unlawful voting should be investigated and prosecuted when supported by evidence. At the same time, criminal charges are accusations, not convictions.
All five defendants are presumed innocent unless and until the government proves the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
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