and our national elections – is essential to protecting our constitutional republic,” said U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller for the Western District of Louisiana. “The right to vote is sacred. When individuals undermine that process through fraud or abuse, they threaten the public’s confidence in a fair and lawful election system. Our Office will continue to safeguard the sanctity of the vote and hold accountable those who violate our laws.”
Central District of California
James Brass, 47, also known as “Lord,” of Victorville, California, was arrested last week on a federal grand jury indictment charging him and two other defendants with paying people on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles to sign petitions using stolen identities of registered voters to qualify initiatives on ballots in California elections.
Also charged in the two-count indictment were two petition circulators who worked for Brass: Courtney Price, 49, of Jacksonville, Florida, and Jateisha Herron, 33, of Boron, California.
All three defendants were charged with one count of conspiracy to commit identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony. Brass and Price were charged with an additional count of identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony.
According to court documents, California’s constitution contains a process for direct democracy in which state voters can bypass the California State Legislature and enact laws or constitutional amendments directly through the ballot initiative process.
To qualify an initiative for inclusion on a ballot in 2026, an initiative’s proponent was required to submit 546,651 signatures to place a proposed statute on the ballot, and 874,641 signatures to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot. An initiative’s proponent had up to 180 days to gather these signatures and needed to submit them no later than 130 days before the date of an election.
Given the large number of signatures required in such a short period of time, proponents of initiatives typically hired petition management companies to gather the signatures. These companies charge significant fees and set a price for each signature gathered, contracting with outside individuals to collect signatures.
According to the indictment that a federal grand jury returned yesterday, Brass managed a team of signature collectors and collected signatures himself while Price and Herron were signature collectors who worked for Brass. From February to August, the defendants used a database to identify registered California voters. On Skid Row, Brass and Price handed out these voters’ stolen identities and paid petition signers to copy the voters’ personal information onto ballot initiative petitions and fraudulently sign the petitions in those voters’ names.
After the petitions were signed, Brass and Herron signed declarations at the bottom of the petitions, falsely declaring under penalty of perjury that they personally witnessed the named registered voters sign the petitions and that each signature was, to the best of their knowledge, “the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be.”
Brass and Herron then turned in the bogus petitions to several petition coordinators, knowing the false representations regarding the signatures’ authenticity would result in false and fraudulent signatures being counted in connection with the effort to place the initiative at issue on the ballot.
Brass further knew the false representations about the signatures’ authenticity would result in payments to him from a petition management company.
In total, Brass received approximately $41,600 from coordinators working with one such petition management company.
If convicted, Brass, Price, and Herron each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each count.
The FBI is investigating this matter with assistance from special agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nandor F.R. Kiss and Michael G. Wheat for the Central District of California are prosecuting this case.
District of Kansas
A federal grand jury in Wichita, Kansas, returned an indictment charging Mariana Alexandra Dewey, 24, a Peruvian national and permanent resident of the United States, with multiple criminal offenses arising from allegedly voting in a federal election despite not being a U.S. citizen.
According to court documents, Dewey was charged with one count of false claim of citizenship, one count of false claim of United States citizenship in order to vote, one count of fraudulent election conduct, and one count of voting by an alien in a federal election.
In November 2024, Dewey allegedly falsely represented herself to be a U.S. citizen to register to vote in an election that included federal, state, and local offices. She is further accused of casting a ballot that included candidates for U.S. President, Vice President, Senate, and House of Representatives after falsely certifying that she was a U.S. citizen and eligible to vote.
Dewey’s initial court appearance is scheduled for today.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Fadler for the District of Kansas is prosecuting the case.
Western District of Louisiana
Last week, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Bridget Johnson, 53, of Cotton Valley, Louisiana, with Fraudulent Voter Registration and Voting by an Alien, and Michael Wedderburn, 52, of Jamaica, with Voting by an Alien.
According to court documents, Johnson was a resident of Webster Parish and a candidate in the 2024 election for mayor of Cotton Valley. Wedderburn is a non‑citizen alien in the United States and was ineligible to vote in Louisiana elections.
On July 14, 2024, Johnson allegedly completed and electronically submitted a Louisiana voter registration application in Wedderburn’s name, falsely stating that he was a U.S. citizen. The indictment also alleges that Wedderburn subsequently voted illegally in the Nov. 5, 2024, election for a federal office, and in the Cotton Valley mayoral race.
U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller for the Western District of Louisiana made the announcement.
The FBI investigated this case with assistance from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth D. Reeg and Alexandra Porubsky are prosecuting the case with assistance from Legal Assistant Ginger Green.
If convicted, Johnson faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and Wedderburn faces a maximum penalty of one year in prison as well as additional financial penalties.
An indictment merely contains accusations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.