Follow-Up: Federal Grand Jury Indicts 3 Foreign Nationals Who Registered to Vote in California, Charging False Statements on Naturalization Forms
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced on October 28 that a federal grand jury in Santa Ana, Orange County, California, indicted three foreign nationals living in Los Angeles County, charging them with knowingly lying under oath on their naturalization applications by falsely declaring that they had never claimed to be U.S. citizens and had never registered to vote in U.S. elections.
The three defendants are charged in three separate indictments with making a false statement under oath on a naturalization application: Sulema de León, 35, a Mexican national, of Long Beach; Rouzbeh Seyamaknejad, 63, a Canadian national, of Rancho Palos Verdes; and Butleng Taing, 43, a Cambodian national, also of Long Beach.
According to the indictments, de León in September 2019 declared under penalty of perjury that she had never claimed to be a U.S. citizen and had never registered to vote in any federal, state, or local election. In fact, she registered to vote in California in June 2013, falsely declaring under oath then that she was a U.S. citizen, and she voted in the November 2020 general election.
Seyamaknejad is charged with making false statements on his naturalization form in January 2024; in fact, he registered to vote in California in December 2018, falsely declaring under oath that he was a United States citizen. Taing is charged over his August 2025 naturalization form; he registered to vote in California in July 2021 and voted in the general elections in November 2022 and November 2024.
First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said the grand jury has started returning indictments against noncitizens who registered to vote, including those who voted in prior elections, and that safeguarding the integrity of elections remains a top priority for his office.
Homeland Security Investigations is investigating the cases, and Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Wheat and Minjae Kim are prosecuting them. An indictment merely contains allegations, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.
GSM previously reported the Justice Department's October 19 Operation Protect the Vote charges against 28 green-card holders in California; these indictments are a new stage in that line, with the grand jury now formally charging individual cases, including defendants not previously named.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于加州 Santa Ana 的罗纳德·里根联邦大楼与美国法院（联邦大陪审团在此提出起诉）。Rosemarie McKeon 摄，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Ronald Reagan Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Santa Ana, California. By Rosemarie McKeon, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-13Justice Department Gives California 48 Hours to Review Alleged Noncitizen Voter List
- 2026-10-15Follow-Up: DOJ Sues California, Asking Court to Block Counting of Mail Ballots From More Than 20,000 Alleged Noncitizen Voters
- 2026-10-16Follow-Up: DOJ Warns California and LA County Officials They Could Face Federal Liability Over Disputed Mail Ballots
- 2026-10-19DOJ 'Operation Protect the Vote': 28 Green Card Holders Charged in California with Illegal Registration and Voting; 11 Arrested
- 2026-10-20Follow-Up: DOJ Seeks Emergency Restraining Order to Stop California Processing Ballots From 20,000-Name List
- 2026-10-20Update: California Attorney General Asks Federal Court to Deny DOJ Bid to Set Aside 20,000 Ballots
- 2026-10-20Follow-Up: DOJ Acknowledges 20,000-Name Voter List May Include U.S. Citizens, Governor's Office Says
- 2026-10-21Judge Who Rejected DOJ Voter Roll Demand Takes Over California Ballot Case: David Carter Replaces Trump Appointee
- 2026-10-22Follow-Up: DOJ Takes California Ballot Case to the Ninth Circuit, Calling Judge's Inaction a Constructive Denial
- 2026-10-23Follow-up: Details Emerge in California Voter Cases: Most of the 28 Green Card Holders Charged Were Applying for US Citizenship
- 2026-10-24Follow-Up: DOJ Sends 48-Hour Ballot-Segregation Letters to 57 California Counties, Warning Officials of Criminal Liability as Counties Push Back
- 2026-10-24Follow-Up: Ninth Circuit Orders California to Respond by Noon Saturday to DOJ Emergency Request on Ballots
- 2026-10-25Follow-Up: California Voter-List Fight Escalates: LA County Sample of 200 Finds Over Half Cancelled or Inactive; Ninth Circuit Hears Case Sunday Afternoon
- 2026-10-25Follow-Up: 9th Circuit Judges Question DOJ Lawsuit to Set Aside California Mail Ballots, Citing Elections Clause
- 2026-10-26Follow-Up: 9th Circuit Rejects DOJ Emergency Appeal 2-1 Over 20,000 California Mail Ballots, Sending Case Back to District Court
- 2026-10-26Follow-Up: Newsom Calls Ninth Circuit Ruling in Voter Ballot Case a 'Positive Development'
- 2026-10-27Follow-Up: Federal Judge Hears Arguments in Los Angeles on Justice Department Bid to Block Counting of 20,000-Plus California Mail Ballots
- 2026-10-28Follow-Up: Federal Judge Carter Denies Justice Department Bid to Set Aside More Than 20,000 California Mail Ballots
- 2026-10-28Follow-Up: Judge Carter Denies DOJ Bid to Set Aside More Than 20,000 California Ballots: Governor Newsom and Attorney General Bonta Issue Statements
- 2026-10-29Follow-Up: Federal Grand Jury Indicts 3 Foreign Nationals Who Registered to Vote in California, Charging False Statements on Naturalization FormsThis story
- 2026-10-30Follow-Up: DOJ Issues Grand Jury Subpoenas to California Election Officials Seeking Records on Detecting Unlawful Voting
- 2026-10-30Follow-Up: Ninth Circuit Again Rejects Justice Department Emergency Bid 2-1: More Than 20,000 California Mail Ballots to Be Counted as Usual
- 2026-10-30Follow-Up: Newsom and Bonta Respond to Ninth Circuit Ruling, Calling It the Trump Administration's Third Failed Attempt This Week to Interfere in California's Election
- 2026-10-31Follow-Up: Judge Orders Justice Department to Stop Threatening Election Officials Over Noncitizen Voter List
- 2026-10-31Follow-Up: Newsom Warns California's Chief Federal Judges of Ballot-Seizure Warrant Risk
