A 56-year-old Nigerian woman, Gladys Adaeze Okafor, has been arrested and charged with voting illegally in the 2022 midterm elections in the United States after falsely claiming U.S. citizenship.
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The announcement came from U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley and Jeff Grimming, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations in New England, in a Department of Justice release issued Wednesday, September 16, 2026.
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Okafor, who resides in Lynn, Massachusetts, is also accused of voting in the 2024 presidential primary election. She faces a charge of unlawful voting as an alien and was arrested Wednesday morning, with an appearance in federal court in Boston expected the same day.
Background on the allegations
According to charging documents, Okafor was born in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria, and obtained lawful permanent resident status in December 2022 — but has never applied for, nor holds, U.S. citizenship.
Prosecutors allege that in July 2022, Okafor submitted a voter registration card falsely certifying under penalty of perjury that she was a U.S. citizen. The City of Lynn subsequently registered her, and she went on to vote in that fall’s midterm elections, according to the charges.
She is further accused of submitting a second voter registration form in October 2023, again checking the “U.S. Citizen” box and signing the citizenship certification, before allegedly voting in the 2024 presidential primary.
Potential penalties
The charge of unlawful voting as an alien carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $100,000 fine. Okafor could also face deportation upon completion of any sentence handed down. As with all federal cases, final sentencing will be determined by a district court judge in line with federal sentencing guidelines and applicable statutes.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Julissa Walsh of the Major Crimes Unit is prosecuting the case.
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