A 33-year-old Andover man is facing federal charges after prosecutors say he impersonated another Chinese national to illegally register and vote in the 2024 presidential election, then anonymously reported his own crime to immigration authorities to frame the man's wife, costing the couple their green cards. Yupseng Sun was arraigned in Boston federal court on one count of fraudulent voter registration and one count of fraudulent voting, according to prosecutors.
According to the Boston Herald, Sun submitted an online voter registration form through the Massachusetts Secretary of State's office in October 2024, impersonating the wife of another Chinese national who lives in Massachusetts as a legal permanent resident. Prosecutors say Sun then submitted an early voting ballot at Malden City Hall in the victim's name for that year's presidential election, according to the outlet's report on the case brought by U.S. Attorney Leah Foley's office.
A Frame-Up That Cost a Couple Their Green Cards
The scheme did not end with the illegal ballot. Court documents cited by the Boston Herald indicate that in 2026, Sun submitted anonymous tips to Homeland Security Investigations and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, falsely alleging that the victim — whom Sun claimed was not a U.S. citizen but a permanent resident — had illegally voted in the 2024 election. Sun also submitted fraudulent forms to USCIS requesting to end the couple's legal permanent residency status, per U.S. Attorney Leah Foley's office.
The consequences for the couple were immediate and severe. When they returned from an international trip in June 2024, the pair underwent secondary inspection at Logan Airport in Boston, where their green cards were confiscated, the Boston Herald reports. They were placed into removal proceedings that same month, according to U.S. Attorney Leah Foley's office, and the dossier does not indicate the current status of those deportation proceedings.
Federal Charges and Potential Penalties
Sun faces up to five years in federal prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine if convicted, according to the case details reported by the Boston Herald. Under federal law, noncitizens are strictly barred from voting in federal elections under 18 U.S.C. § 611, which carries statutory fines and up to a year in prison, separate from any charges tied to false claims of citizenship. If convicted, Sun would also be subject to deportation proceedings after completing his sentence, prosecutors say.
Massachusetts state law adds another layer of exposure for fraudulent registration. Applicants must attest to U.S. citizenship under penalty of perjury, and the state can impose fines up to $10,000 or up to five years in prison for fraudulent voter registration, according to guidance published by the Town of Leicester. Separately, any noncitizen convicted of unlawfully voting in a federal election faces mandatory deportation and permanent inadmissibility, according to the National Immigration Law Center, barring the person from ever obtaining citizenship or lawful permanent residency.
Part of a Broader Federal Crackdown
Sun's arrest lands amid an aggressive federal enforcement push across Massachusetts. U.S. Attorney Leah Foley established a dedicated Benefit and Voter Fraud Team in March, led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Philip Mallard and Mark Grady, specifically to investigate public assistance and election-related offenses, according to GBH. Hoodline previously covered the launch of that fraud squad.
The case also follows a similar prosecution in May, when federal prosecutors in Boston charged Saugus resident Sunny Manhertz, a Canadian citizen and lawful permanent resident, with illegally registering and voting in multiple federal elections dating back to 2008, according to the Department of Justice. And the broader enforcement climate in Massachusetts has intensified further still, with the August indictment of sitting Lawrence Mayor Brian DePeña on federal wire fraud and money laundering charges, as reported by the Mass Brief.
Election Monitors Stir Political Tension
The prosecution unfolds against a backdrop of political conflict over federal election oversight. In July, the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division sent formal warning letters to election officials in all 50 states, alerting them that knowingly maintaining noncitizens on voter rolls could trigger federal criminal prosecution, according to Newsweek. The department has also confirmed that Massachusetts is one of six states receiving federal election monitors, with Boston and New Bedford among 15 jurisdictions assigned monitors for their September primary elections.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey has pushed back hard against that deployment, characterizing the federal oversight as an effort at voter intimidation ahead of the 2026 midterms, according to Boston 25 News. Federal officials have defended the practice as routine. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon has said the Justice Department has sent election monitors for decades, noting the agency deployed monitors to nine jurisdictions during the 2022 primaries and 27 jurisdictions in 2024. Federal monitors are tasked with ensuring polling places remain open for the necessary amount of time, eliminating language barriers, and facilitating access for disabled voters.
Despite the political fight over monitoring, national data suggests cases like Sun's remain statistically rare. A July analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center found that documented noncitizen voting in U.S. elections remains extremely rare nationwide, with multi-state voter roll audits showing noncitizen ballots account for only a microscopic fraction of overall votes cast. It remains unclear how Sun obtained the sensitive personal information needed to complete the fraudulent registration in his victim's name, and the dossier does not indicate whether federal authorities are conducting broader audits of voter rolls in other Massachusetts communities.
