BOSTON — A Nigerian citizen living in Lynn was arrested Wednesday morning and charged with voting illegally in multiple U.S. elections, including the 2024 presidential election, authorities said after she swore on her Massachusetts voter registration forms that she was an American citizen.
Gladys Adaeze Okafor, 56, was arrested by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and charged with illegally voting, the Justice Department (DOJ) said. Okafor is expected to make her initial appearance in federal court in Boston later Wednesday.
Okafor registered to vote in Lynn in July 2022 and swore on the registration form that she was a U.S. citizen, the Justice Department said. She voted in the 2022 midterm elections, prosecutors said.
Okafor submitted a second voter registration form in 2023, again swearing that she was a citizen, prosecutors said. She voted in the 2024 presidential election, the department said, noting that Okafor admitted to doing so in a recorded interview with an HSI agent last week.
The case is being handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts under the supervision of U.S. Attorney Leah Foley as part of a joint Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security investigation into unlawful voting and election fraud.
The charge is an allegation. Okafor is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
It is unclear at this point if Okafor has an attorney who may comment on her behalf.
