Six noncitizens are facing federal charges out of Tampa for allegedly falsely claiming United States citizenship to register and vote, or for illegally casting ballots, in the 2022 and 2024 elections. The announcement names no individual defendants, leaving the specific allegations against each of the six still unknown.
The case was disclosed on Thursday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida
, whose office is based in Tampa. The announcement, posted alongside tags for Homeland Security Investigations' Tampa office and the Florida Secretary of State, states plainly that the six were charged for falsely claiming U.S. citizenship to vote and/or illegally voting in the two election cycles. No further details on the defendants' identities, nationalities, or the precise nature of their alleged votes were included in the release.
Federal Statutes Underpinning the Charges
Prosecutions of this kind typically draw on two federal statutes. Under 18 U.S.C. § 611, as laid out by the United States Code, it is unlawful for an alien to vote in an election held wholly or partly to elect specified federal officials. A second statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1015(f), addresses knowingly making a false statement or claim of U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote or vote in a federal, state, or local election, according to the same federal code.
Separately, the Justice Department's Office of Public Affairs announced charges involving 16 aliens tied to election crimes, describing cases that include voting by aliens in federal elections, false claims of citizenship to register or vote, and false statements on citizenship applications. It is not clear from the available information whether or how that 16-defendant announcement relates to the six defendants named in Thursday's Middle District of Florida case.
Other Recent Cases in the Middle District
The Tampa U.S. Attorney's Office has brought a string of similar cases in the past two years. Andrea Catanese, a 60-year-old Italian national, was charged by federal indictment with voting by an alien, attempting to procure naturalization unlawfully, and making a false statement related to citizenship, the office said in a separate announcement tied to its election integrity plan for the 2026 general election. In February 2025, a Tampa grand jury indicted Dmitry Shushlebin, a 45-year-old Russian citizen living in Miami Beach, and Sanjar Jamilov, a 33-year-old Uzbekistani citizen living in St. Petersburg, on charges of conspiring to submit fraudulent voter-registration materials.
In another case, Christiane Vinette Young, a 75-year-old Canadian national illegally present in the United States, was charged by information with three counts of voting by an alien, the Tampa office said.
A Broader Statewide Crackdown
The federal charges follow a statewide operation announced by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, who said 20 defendants were being arrested and prosecuted for voting fraud, including conduct tied to the 2024 general election. That operation charged 16 noncitizens who allegedly registered by falsely claiming U.S. citizenship and then voted, along with four convicted felons accused of voting while on probation, according to the Florida Attorney General's Office.
Among those named in that state case, Selvin Uton Whilby of Tampa was charged with two counts of allegedly voting as an unqualified noncitizen elector after registering in 2008 by falsely affirming citizenship and then voting by mail in both the 2024 primary and general elections. James Mark Hollingsworth of Lake Suzy faced two counts of allegedly voting as an unqualified noncitizen elector and two counts of false swearing, after registering through the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles in 2021 and voting by mail in both 2024 elections, per the same account.
The attorney general's office said those investigations began with referrals from the Florida Department of State's Office of Election Crimes and county supervisors of elections, with FDLE investigators then cross-checking voter-registration applications, poll-book signatures or vote-by-mail certificates, and post-election ineligibility notices to verify the alleged offenses. The office added that more than 100 election-fraud-related prosecutions have occurred since SB 524 established the Office of Election Crimes, with more than half of those beginning since Uthmeier took office.
It remains unknown how many votes, registrations, or election outcomes may have been affected by the six newly announced federal cases, and no case numbers, court dates, or defense statements have been made public for the six defendants.
