SACRAMENTO — A Northern California jury found a Mexican national who assumed an American’s identity to vote in five federal elections guilty of voter fraud and identity theft.
A jury on Friday found Gustavo Araujo Lerma guilty of aggravated identity theft, making a false statement on a passport application and five counts of voting by an alien in federal elections from 2012 through 2016, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Lerma insisted he is an American named Hiram Enrique Velez.
Prosecutors said Lerma was born in Mexico in 1955 and later purchased a birth certificate and Social Security card with that name in 1992. They said he voted illegally for the past 20 years.
His defense argued there is no proof that Lerma is a Mexican citizen. He testified that he was found as a 5-year-old on the streets of San Antonio, Texas, and did not know when or where he was born.
Lerma also testified that he supports President Donald Trump and donated to the Republican party.
He will be sentenced in November.
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