MINNEAPOLIS—A federal grand jury has indicted 10 foreign nationals in separate voter-fraud cases involving Minnesota elections in 2022, 2024 and 2026, the Justice Department said.
The defendants were indicted Sept. 24 and have since made initial appearances in federal court. Prosecutors allege the cases involve unlawful voting by noncitizens and false claims of U.S. citizenship made in connection with registering or voting.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said the charges involve 10 foreign nationals, including one defendant accused of voting illegally in Minnesota’s August 2026 primary election.
The defendants are lawful permanent residents from Liberia, Lithuania, Ghana, Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, Germany and South Africa, according to the Justice Department.
The cases include allegations that several defendants voted in the November 2024 general election while others are accused of falsely claiming U.S. citizenship in order to register or cast a ballot.
One defendant, Ghanaian national Joshua Frederick Kofi Edzie, 63, is charged with two counts of making a false claim of citizenship in order to vote and one count of voting by an alien. Prosecutors allege he voted in Minnesota’s Aug. 11, 2026, primary and falsely claimed U.S. citizenship in 2024 and again in 2026.
Another defendant, Lithuanian national Edvile Vaidoto Edmunds, 59, is accused of voting in the Nov. 8, 2022, general election.
Others charged include Bhator Konah Bryant, Alan Barbu Kargbo, Paul Kras, Fadil Rasim Ozegovic, Aparecido Donizetti Padovan, Chris Adam Pettiquoi, Christian Liam Schenk and Hester Sophia Weihmann.
A false claim of citizenship in order to vote carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of as much as $250,000. Voting by an alien is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of as much as $100,000.
The cases were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and are being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota.
The charges are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.