FBI arrests suspect accused of paying LA homeless to forge signatures using registered voters' identities
A California man was arrested early Thursday amid allegations that he and two others paid homeless people living in Los Angeles' Skid Row neighborhood to sign petitions using the stolen identities of registered voters in an effort to qualify ballot initiatives for local elections.James Brass, 47, a.k.a."Lord," was taken into federal custody in Victorville, 85 miles northeast of Los Angeles, the Justice Department said.
Brass and the other two defendants — Courtney Price, 49, of Jacksonville, Florida, and Jateisha Herron, 33, of Boron, California — are charged with conspiracy to commit identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony.Brass and Price are additionally charged with identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony.TRUMP ELECTION FRAUD CRACKDOWN LANDS FIRST ARREST, PUTTING LONGTIME CRITICS IN WHITE HOUSE CROSSHAIRSFILE - A view of a homeless encampment on Skid Row on Thursday, Sept.23, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA.
(Allen J.Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)"Securing American elections from criminal interference is of the utmost importance to the FBI," FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X.
"If you mess with our elections, the FBI will find you."Brass allegedly orchestrated the ballot harvesting scheme through the management of a team of signature collectors, as well as collecting signatures himself, federal prosecutors said.EX-NEW JERSEY MAYOR, HER HUSBAND CHARGED FOR USING FAKE BALLOT SIGNATURES AFTER SHE PLEADED GUILTY TO DUIJames Brass is accused of running a scheme in which homeless people in Los Angeles' Skid Row were paid to sign petitions to qualify ballot initiatives with the stolen identities of registered California voters.(Getty Images; Justice Department)Price and Herron were employed by Brass, authorities said.From February through August, the trio allegedly gathered the identities of voters from a database and handed the information to homeless people on Skid Row, a neighborhood in downtown Los Angeles that contains one of the larg...