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Arizona man sentenced for illegally voting in 2020 presidential election

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Tom Joyce

(The Center Square) – An Arizona man was sentenced to 1.5 years in prison for illegally casting a vote in the 2020 presidential election.

A Pinal County Superior Court judge sentenced 35-year-old San Tan Valley resident Roberto Garcia September 12. Garcia entered a guilty plea in July on one felony count of illegal voting. He was indicted in March 2022, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s office.

The indictment alleged that Garcia lied on his voter registration form. It alleged that he filled out a form indicating he had not been convicted of a felony or had since had his voting rights restored.

However, Garcia was not eligible to vote. He had previously been convicted of two felonies and never had his right to vote restored after his 2006 conviction.

As a part of his guilty plea, Garcia admitted that he knowingly cast an illegal ballot November 3, 2020.

Garcia registered to vote in January 2020, but Pinal County Election Officials were unaware he was ineligible to vote.

Garcia will be eligible to register to vote if he applies to have his voting rights restored after he completes this sentence.

Currently, Garcia is in prison serving a sentence for an unrelated crime. He will serve this sentence concurrently with his other prison sentence.