Three Los Angeles County residents indicted for voter fraud

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KESQ) - Three foreign nationals who live in Los Angeles County suspected of knowingly lying on their naturalization applications were indicted today by a federal grand jury sitting in Santa Ana.   

Sulema de Leon, 35, a Mexican national living in Long Beach, Rouzben Seyamaknejad, 63, a Canadian national living in Rancho Palos Verdes, and Butleng Taing, 43, a Cambodian national living in Long Beach, were charged with falsely declaring to have never claimed to be U.S. citizens and by registering to vote in U.S. elections, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.  

"The grand jury has started returning indictments against noncitizens who registered to vote, including those who voted in prior elections,'' First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement.   

According to the indictment, de Leon allegedly made false statements under oath in her September 2019 application for U.S. naturalization, declaring under penalty of perjury that she had never claimed to be a U.S. citizen in any way and that she had never registered to vote in any federal, state, or local elections in the U.S. The indictment indicated that she registered to vote in California in June 2013, falsely declaring under oath then that she was a U.S. citizen.

She subsequently voted in the November 2020 general election.   

Seyameknejad was accused of making false statements on his January 2024 form to become a naturalized U.S. citizen by declaring under penalty of perjury to never have claimed to be a U.S. citizen and that he never registered to vote in any U.S. election.

According to the indictment, he registered to vote in California in December 2018, falsely declaring under oath that he was a U.S. citizen.  

Taing was also accused of making false statements on his August 2025 naturalization application, declaring under penalty of perjury that he had never claimed to be a U.S. citizen or registered to vote in any election.   

The indictment states that Taing registered to vote in California in July 2021, falsely declaring under oath that he was a U.S. citizen, and subsequently voted in the November 2022 and 2024 general elections.   

If convicted, the defendants could face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.