Federal prosecutors unsealed indictments Tuesday against 10 people who falsely claimed to be citizens when voting or registering to vote in Minnesota.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the defendants include foreign nationals from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Ghana, Liberia, Lithuania and South Africa:
- Bhator Konah Bryant, 61 years old
- Edvile Vaidoto Edmunds, 59 years old
- Joshua Frederick Kofi Edzie. 63
- Alan Barbu Kargbo, 48 years old
- Paul Kras, 78 years old
- Fadil Rasim Ozegovic, 58 years old
- Aparecido Donizetti Padovan, 62 years old
- Chris Adam Pettiquoi, 43 years old
- Christian Liam Schenk, 47 years old
- Hester-Sophia Weihmann, 69 years old
Charges against the defendants include falsely claiming citizenship in order to vote and voting as an alien, most recently in the August 2026 primary election.
10 people accused of trying to vote illegally in Minnesota
The indictments contain no details about where the defendants registered to vote or how they managed to vote.
At least one of the defendants, Weihmann, is already charged in state court.
At a news conference in Washington alongside U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said the alleged crimes stem from a “general tolerance of fraud” in Minnesota.
According to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office, 3,272,414 votes were cast in the 2024 general election. Minnesota Judiciary records show 57 charges of ineligible voters knowingly voting filed statewide from 2021 to 2025, 14 of which resulted in convictions.
State fees offer more details
Criminal charges filed against Weihmann last year in Isanti County reveal that she is a green card holder who resides in Cambridge, Minnesota, and has been in the country since 2015.
According to a criminal complaint, Weihmann voted in 2022 and 2024 and filed paperwork to deactivate her voter record when an election official informed her she was not eligible to vote. Isanti County election administrators referred the matter to the sheriff’s office for investigation.
Weihmann faces two charges of knowingly voting as an ineligible voter in Isanti County District Court. A plea hearing is scheduled for October 7.
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