A Jamaican woman has been arrested and charged with unlawfully claiming U.S. citizenship to register and vote in the 2024 Florida Presidential Primary Election.
Jacqueline Dianne Wallace, 52, was taken into custody following the unsealing of a federal criminal complaint. Michelle Spaven, Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida, announced the charge shortly after Wallace made her initial court appearance in Tallahassee.
According to the complaint, Wallace originally entered the United States in December 2010 on a six-month B2 tourist visa but failed to return to Jamaica as required. In January 2024, she used an online registration system—which required certification of U.S. citizenship—to register to vote in the upcoming election. Prosecutors allege she submitted the fraudulent registration from a community college computer network.
Despite not having U.S. citizenship, Wallace is accused of casting a vote in the August 2024 federal primary, which included the election of the President.
She was arrested by agents from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and investigators with the Bay County Sheriff’s Office. If convicted, Wallace faces up to five years in prison and will be subject to removal from the United States.
The case was investigated by HSI’s Tampa Field Division, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Office of Executive Investigations—Election Crime Unit, the Florida Department of State Office of Election Crimes and Security, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, the Bay County Supervisor of Elections, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Welch is prosecuting the case.
This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America, a Department of Justice initiative aimed at combating illegal immigration, dismantling transnational criminal organizations, and reducing violent crime through coordinated federal enforcement programs such as OCDETF and Project Safe Neighborhoods.
