Russian Man Pleaded Guilty To Submitting Fake FL Voter Registration Forms: U.S. DOJ

A Russian man pleaded guilty to charges related to a Florida voter fraud scheme, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.

Dmitry Shushlebin, 45, of Miami Beach pleaded guilty to conspiring to submit fraudulent voter registrations, wire fraud, false statements and aggravated identity theft.

He faces a maximum penalty of 32 years in federal prison. A sentencing date hasn’t been set.

Shushlebin hired Sanjar Jamilov, 32, of Uzbekistan and others to submit more than 100 fraudulent voter registration applications to the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections in February and March 2023, the DOJ said.

These applications were submitted in the names of fake people, in envelopes with return and address labels that were identically formatted, including containing the same typographical error, and had various indicators of fraud including repeating dates of birth and addresses, and nearly sequential Social Security numbers.

The Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections detected the fraud and rejected the fraudulent applications.

One purpose of registering these fake voters was to create fake identities that Shushlebin could use to commit financial fraud, the DOJ said. He used them to obtain fraudulent credit cards and loans, as well as other financial frauds.

See Also:

• Russian, Uzbek Nationals Submitted 132 False Voter Applications: FDLE
• ‘Mom Help’: NC Teen Vacationing In FL Sent Brief Text Before Going Missing More Than 1 Week Ago
• Man Stalked Multiple Women, Stood Outside Their Bedrooms: St. Pete Police
• Teen Driver Tore License Plate From Car After Fiery I-75 Crash, Hid In Chicken Coop: FL Troopers
• 5 Illegal Casinos Shut Down In Port Richey, 249 Slot Machines Seized: Police

For example, on Jan. 6, 2023, Shuhslebin used the identity of a fictitious voter “Ariel Elston” to apply for a loan with a bank, the DOJ said.

In order to make Elston appear like a real client for a dental loan, he hired a Russian actress to hold a photograph of a fake driver’s license in the name of Ariel Elston. The bank approved the loan application and issued a loan in the amount of $3,099 to a bank account controlled by Shushlebin.

He carried out that scheme against that same bank hundreds of times using hundreds of different fake identities, the DOJ said.

Jamilov previously pleaded guilty to related charges on July 25 and is pending deportation.

• Get The Latest Local News (For Free!) With One Quick Tap