Patrick H. Perea, 62, faces up to five years in prison after a federal grand jury indicted him on a fraudulent voting charge for a ballot cast in Albuquerque.
Digital Assignment Editor
A Tijeras man is facing up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for attempting to cast a ballot in his dead wife’s name, the U.S. District Attorney’s Office in New Mexico announced on Friday.
A federal grand jury indicted 62-year-old Patrick H. Perea on one count of fraudulent voting in the 2024 general election.
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Perea apparently submitted the ballot to the Bureau of Elections of the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office in Albuquerque, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
“Dead people can’t vote,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison. “Casting a ballot that belongs to someone else is a deliberate abuse of our election process and a federal crime.”
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office and comes just weeks ahead of the Midterm elections.
