Franklin County woman sentenced to 60 month federal prison sentence on fraudulent identity and voter registration charges

A Franklin County woman who fraudulently assumed the identity of a United States citizen and voted in multiple elections was sentenced to 60 months in prison by a United States District Court last week.

Angelica Maria Francisco, 42, of Russellville, pled guilty to two counts of false claims of citizenship in connection with voting, one count of false statements in application for a United States passport, five counts of use of a United States passport obtained by false statements and one count of aggravated identity theft. 

Francisco entered that plea in September 2024 and sentencing was delayed until January 2026.

In 2011, Francisco assumed the identity of a United States citizen and used that false identity to obtain a passport, which she used to travel to and from Guatemala in 2012, 2015 and 2018.

She used that same false identity and registered to vote in Alabama in 2016, casting ballots in the 2016 and 2020 primary and general elections.

After she used the same false identity to apply for and receive a renewed passport in 2021, federal agents in the Diplomatic Security Service began an investigation with assistance from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. 

The case represents a renewed focus by federal authorities to enforce and monitor noncitizens illegally registering to vote and participating in elections.

Last week, the Alabama Secretary of State’s Office announced the identity of 186 illegally registered noncitizens who were purged from Alabama’s voter registration list.

The investigation showed 25 of those individuals had actually cast ballots in Alabama elections.

Of those 186 illegally registered noncitizens, three were living in Franklin County according to Secretary of State Wes Allen’s office.

Jefferson County saw the removal of 25 illegally registered noncitizens, the largest total for all Alabama counties. 21 illegals were residing in Madison County, the second highest total across the state.

The 186 illegally registered noncitizens represent 0.00005 percent of Alabama’s 3,596,679 registered voters, so the issue does not appear to be a rampant statewide problem.

“Through a cooperative effort with the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, my office used the federal SAVE database to identity the names of people who are not American citizens but who registered to vote and, in some cases, cast ballots in our elections. I will not tolerate this,” Allen said in a January 12, 2026, press release.