The U.S. Department of Justice said that a person who was in the U.S. illegally has admitted to stealing an American name in order to get a visa.

According to reports, Angela Maria Francisco, a 42-year-old immigrant from Guatemala, started to pretend to be a U.S. citizen in 2011 and used this fake name to get an American visa.

“She reportedly used the passport to go to and from Guatemala in 2012, 2015, and 2018 to visit her home country.” Fox News reported that she reportedly used the same name to register to vote in Alabama in 2016 and then voted in the 2016 and 2020 primary and general elections.

According to the report, Francisco reportedly used the same fake name to get a new visa in 2021 and then used it to travel to and from Guatemala in 2022.

At the time of her arrest, Francisco was living in Russellville, Alabama. There are nine counts against her in federal court for making fake claims of citizenship in order to vote, making false statements when applying for a U.S. passport, using a U.S. passport that she got by lying, and severe identity theft.

Francisco also signed a plea deal in which she admitted guilt to all nine counts.

There is a big goal in the office of Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen to make sure that only legal American citizens can vote in Alabama elections. Allen said this in a statement. “I want to thank the U.S. State Department and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama for working hard to investigate this person and bring charges against them. We will keep helping the police in any way we can as they go after people who vote illegally in Alabama elections to the fullest limit of the law.”

Author: Blake Ambrose