Colombian national sentenced to 3 years for using stolen identity to vote over 20 years

Carlos Felipe Jaramillo-Grajales walked into a passport office in March 2003 with a stolen identity. He had taken the name, date of birth, and Social Security number of an American citizen and used them to obtain a passport. It was the first step in a scheme that would last two decades.

Once he had that credential, Jaramillo-Grajales, a Colombian national living in the United States illegally, used the false information to get a Florida driver's license. With a state ID in hand, he registered to vote. He then cast ballots in multiple elections, including the 2020 presidential race. For roughly 20 years, he participated in American elections under a name that was not his own.

On Friday, a federal judge sentenced him to three years in prison for identity theft and making false statements about his citizenship status. The conviction came after investigators from Homeland Security Investigations, the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service, and the Social Security Administration's Office of the Inspector General built their case. Assistant United States Attorney Arnold B. Corsmeier prosecuted the matter in Florida.

But Jaramillo-Grajales's use of the stolen identity extended beyond voting. In June 2017, he invoked the false name to help secure lawful permanent residence for his fiancée, who later became his wife. He had exploited the stolen identity to obtain government documents and claim benefits over the span of his time in the country. The stolen identity was not merely a tool for electoral participation—it was a key to accessing the machinery of American life.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin framed the case as part of a larger pattern. Earlier in the year, he had written to secretaries of state in California, New Jersey, Nevada, and Pennsylvania flagging concerns about noncitizen voter registration. His findings suggested that as many as 190,830 noncitizens had registered to vote in California alone. The numbers underscored what lawmakers in Washington had begun debating: whether new legislation was needed to strengthen voter verification systems and close the gaps that people like Jaramillo-Grajales had exploited.

The case was not isolated. DHS pointed to other convictions: Marian Chariton, a Slovak national who illegally voted in New Jersey's 2022 election after falsely claiming citizenship, and Jose Ceballos, a Mexican national who pleaded guilty to three counts of disorderly election in Kansas for the same false claim. Each case illustrated the same vulnerability—the ability to misrepresent citizenship status and gain access to the ballot.

Mullin stated that the conviction demonstrated the department's commitment to protecting election integrity. "Only Americans should be electing American leaders," he said. At the end of his sentence, Jaramillo-Grajales will be removed from the country. The case had moved through the system, but the broader question remained: how many others had used similar methods, and what structural changes might prevent it from happening again.