One illegal alien and seven lawful permanent residents in Texas account for half of the 16 people charged in a nationwide Justice Department crackdown on illegal voting and related election crimes announced Friday. Seven cases are in North Texas, while federal agents arrested the eighth Texas defendant in Del Rio.
The Justice Department said the cases involve alleged unlawful voting in federal elections, false citizenship claims tied to voter registration or voting, and related offenses including wire fraud, naturalization fraud, passport fraud and firearm-related crimes. The 16 defendants live in seven states.
The national release says eight people face charges in the Northern District of Texas, but it lists seven names. The district’s own release confirms seven North Texas defendants. Monica Ivette Carzoli Carillo’s separate case in the Western District of Texas brings the Texas total to eight.
Seven North Texas defendants
Federal authorities first announced the seven North Texas cases on September 15, as previously reported by The Dallas Express. Prosecutors indicted six defendants on September 10 and charged the seventh by criminal complaint on September 11.
Six are lawful permanent residents. Prosecutors identify Moises Anwar Arellano-Alba as an illegal alien from Mexico who received a final removal order in July.
Six face charges tied directly to alleged voting or false citizenship claims in the 2024 general election, prosecutors said. Carlos Salas Barrios and Celestin Katubadi allegedly cast provisional ballots in Tarrant County, but election officials rejected both ballots. Prosecutors said federal law still prohibited them from casting the ballots.
The seventh defendant, Joshua Nmelichukwu Akpom, faces a false-statements charge connected to his 2026 naturalization application. Prosecutors allege Akpom denied that he had claimed U.S. citizenship, registered to vote or voted, despite registering in 2017 and voting in 2018. They relied on the naturalization allegation because the five-year statute of limitations barred a charge over the 2018 vote.
“When individuals who are not citizens cast ballots or falsely claim citizenship, they violate federal law,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said.
Del Rio arrest adds eighth Texas case
Federal agents arrested Carzoli Carillo, a 46-year-old Mexican national and lawful permanent resident, in Del Rio on September 16. She became a lawful permanent resident on December 5, 2023, and allegedly cast an early ballot at the Del Rio Civic Center on October 26, 2024, prosecutors said.
A criminal complaint alleges that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers obtained a sworn statement from Carzoli Carillo on November 19, 2025, in which she admitted registering and voting in the 2024 election. Prosecutors charged her with voting by an alien and making a false citizenship statement to register or vote. She faces up to five years in prison if convicted.
Other cases span six states
The other eight defendants live in Idaho, Georgia, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Michigan. Georgia prosecutors accuse Analiea Milliscent Eccles, an illegal alien from Venezuela who received Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals status, of voting nine times from 2008 through 2024.
They accuse Gabriel Covarrubias of voting under a false name in 2024 and making a false statement in a passport application. Pauline Lewis also faces a complaint alleging unlawful voting.
In Idaho, a defendant whom the Justice Department identified as Avila Gomez faces election charges along with alleged wire fraud, theft of government funds, passport fraud, identification-document fraud and firearm offenses. The remaining defendants are Gladys Adaeze Okafor in Massachusetts, Julieta Englestad in Wisconsin, Santana Coulibaly in New Jersey and Victoria Viktorivna Aquilina in Michigan.
Complaints, indictments and criminal informations contain allegations. The law presumes every defendant innocent unless prosecutors prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Provided by Dallas Express
