Federal prosecutors have charged Monica Ivette Carzoli Carillo, 46, a Mexican national and legal permanent resident, with allegedly voting unlawfully in the November 2024 presidential election in Del Rio. The two-count case concerns a ballot she allegedly cast months after obtaining her green card; each count carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison if she is convicted.
According to WOAI / News 4 San Antonio, Carzoli Carillo became a legal permanent resident on December 5, 2023. The allegations say she registered to vote and cast an early ballot at the Del Rio Civic Center on October 26, 2024, in the presidential election.
The investigation moved forward after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers obtained a sworn statement from Carzoli Carillo on November 19, 2025. The station reported that she admitted in the statement to registering to vote and casting a ballot in the November 2024 election.
The Charges She Faces
Carzoli Carillo is charged with one count under 18 U.S.C. 611, the federal statute barring voting by aliens, and one count under 18 U.S.C. 1015(f). The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services policy manual describes Section 611 as making it a federal crime for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. A federal district court judge would determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors, per the same account.
Earlier Immigration Cases Offer Context
The criminal case also has potential immigration-law implications distinct from any prison sentence. In a separate Illinois case, the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled in 2015 that a lawful permanent resident who voted in a 2006 federal election could be found removable under immigration law. In another decision involving a lawful permanent resident who admitted voting in the 2012 presidential election in Stanislaus County, California, the board said unlawful voting is a significant adverse factor when immigration authorities consider discretionary relief, according to the U.S. Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review and a separate board decision. The status of a ballot can also differ from the question of whether a person allegedly cast or attempted to cast it. In a separate Tarrant County investigation announced in September 2026, Votebeat reported that one defendant was charged even though the ballot at issue was ultimately rejected.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations is investigating the case with assistance from the Office of the Texas Attorney General, the outlet reported. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carli Tuttle is prosecuting the matter. As with any criminal complaint, the allegations against Carzoli Carillo remain unproven, and she is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
Officials Vow Continued Scrutiny
U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons said federal law in the United States clearly states that it is unlawful for a noncitizen to vote in federal elections. Simmons added that his office will work with state and federal partners to investigate alleged illegal voting and prosecute cases accordingly, according to the report.
The case comes as Texas officials review possible noncitizen registrations. The Texas Secretary of State said it compared the names of the state's 18 million registered voters with the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database, identifying 2,724 potential noncitizens. A subsequent review found that 578 of those voters demonstrated citizenship, while 117 cases were referred to the Office of the Texas Attorney General for investigation, according to the Texas Secretary of State. The referrals are investigative leads, not findings that the voters committed crimes. Texas law and its state constitution require citizenship to vote.
How the Case Fits a National Pattern
Nationally, the numbers behind noncitizen-voting prosecutions remain modest compared to the political attention they draw. Reuters found that federal prosecutors have charged just 129 people under the voting-by-aliens statute since it was created in 1996, resulting in 73 convictions or guilty pleas. The Trump administration has brought at least 39 such prosecutions in its first 18 months, and Department of Homeland Security agents have opened voter-fraud investigations into more than 325 people across at least six states, mostly over suspected noncitizen voting, Reuters reported.
Of the defendants in those cases whose immigration status Reuters could determine, 49 of 62 were lawful permanent residents, similar to Carzoli Carillo's status. Reuters has also characterized the violations it examined as a small number of often inadvertent violations, rather than evidence of coordinated fraud.
