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An illegal immigrant with a massive criminal record has been voting in Florida under an assumed name, state officials said Thursday.
Alfred Samuels used a fake birth certificate to get a driver’s license last year under the name Alford Nelson. He registered to vote at the same time, also under the Nelson alias.
He then cast ballots in two Broward County elections earlier this year under the fake identity, officials said.
“By casting a vote under a false name, Samuels violated Florida law,” the Florida Department of Law Enforcement said in announcing the man’s arrest on the election charges.
He had 11 previous felony convictions, most of them related to drug trafficking.
Florida says he is from Jamaica and entered the U.S. legally in 1977, but fell out of status. He could have applied for citizenship but never did, likely because his criminal record would have been spotted and made him eligible for deportation.
He paid $2,000 for the fraudulent New York birth certificate.
Florida officials said he had to get it so he could get a license, which he was ordered to do by a judge after he got into an accident and was found to be driving without a license.
