Federal Grand Jury Indicts 3 Foreign Nationals Who Registered to Vote in California, Charging Them with Lying on Naturalization Forms

SANTA ANA, California - A federal grand jury today indicted three foreign nationals living in Los Angeles County who registered to vote in California who are charged with knowingly lying under oath on their naturalization applications by falsely declaring to have never claimed to be U.S. citizens and by registering to vote in U.S. elections.

The three following defendants are charged in three separate indictments with making a false statement under oath on naturalization application:

• Sulema de León, 35, a Mexican national, of Long Beach;
• Rouzbeh Seyamaknejad, 63, a Canadian national, of Rancho Palos Verdes; and
• Butleng Taing, 43, a Cambodian national, also of Long Beach.

"The grand jury has started returning indictments against noncitizens who registered to vote, including those who voted in prior elections," said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. "Safeguarding the integrity of our elections remains a top priory for our office and we will continue investigating and charging election fraud."

According to the indictments, de León in September 2019 knowingly made false statements under oath on her application to become a naturalized United States citizen. Specifically, she declared under penalty of perjury that she had never claimed to be a U.S. citizen in any way, and that she never registered to vote in any federal, state, or local election in the U.S. In fact, de León registered to vote in California in June 2013, falsely declaring under oath then that she was a U.S. citizen. She voted in the November 2020 general election.

In January 2024, Seyamaknejad knowingly made false statements under oath on his naturalization form by declaring under penalty of perjury that he never claimed to be a U.S. citizen and that he never registered to vote in any U.S. election. In fact, in December 2018 he registered to vote in California, falsely declaring under oath that he was a United States citizen.

In August 2025, Taing knowingly made false statements on his form to become a naturalized U.S. citizen by declaring under penalty of perjury to never having claimed to be a U.S. citizen and that he had never registered to vote in any U.S. election. However, he registered to vote in California in July 2021, falsely stating under oath that he was a U.S. citizen. He then voted in the general elections in November 2022 and November 2024.

An indictment merely contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

Homeland Security Investigations is investigating these matters.

Assistant United States Attorneys Michael Wheat and Minjae Kim of the Orange County Office are prosecuting these cases.