A 56-year-old Nigerian woman, Gladys Adaeze Okafor, has been arrested in the United States for allegedly voting illegally in two elections.
The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts said Okafor, who lives in Lynn, Massachusetts, was arrested on Wednesday for voting as a non-citizen.
She was charged with unlawful voting as an alien and is expected to appear before a federal court in Boston.
According to charging documents, Okafor was born in Aba, Nigeria, and only obtained lawful permanent resident status in December 2022. She has not applied for US citizenship.
Prosecutors said she first registered to vote in July 2022, signing under penalty of perjury that she was a US citizen. The City of Lynn registered her and she allegedly voted in the midterm elections that fall.
She allegedly registered again in October 2023, ticking the US Citizen box and signing the certification, and went on to vote in the 2024 presidential primary election.
The charge carries up to one year in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $100,000 fine. Prosecutors said she may also face deportation after serving any sentence.
The case was announced by US Attorney Leah B. Foley and Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England, Jeff Grimming. Assistant US Attorney Julissa Walsh of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting.
The office said the arrest is part of its Benefit and Voter Fraud Team created in March 2026 to tackle fraud cases in the state, following the Department of Justice creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division in April 2026.
It stressed that Okafor is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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