WASHINGTON (WFLA) — A Russian national and an Uzbek national have been arrested for allegedly submitting over 100 fake voter registration applications in Pinellas County, the U.S. Department of Justice said Monday.
Dmitry Shushlebin, 45, and Sanjar Jamilov, 33, were both charged with one count of conspiring to submit fraudulent voter registration applications and give false information in registering to vote.
Shushlebin, who is from Russia, was living in Miami Beach at the time of the alleged crimes, while Jamilov, who is from Uzbekistan, was living in St. Petersburg, the DOJ said.
The Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections became suspicious after receiving the voter applications in February and March 2023, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Middle District of Florida.
The 132 applications were submitted in envelopes with “identically formatted return and address labels,” the complaint said. Each listed a real residential address in Pinellas County, but bore the name, date of birth, and social security number of what appeared to be a fictitious person.
The Supervisor of Elections compared the names to records at the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and concluded that none of the applicants had ever been issued identification cards in Florida.
Officials said there were also several other red flags, including that none of the applicants had middle names, multiple shared the same date of birth and nearly all of the addresses listed appeared at least twice within the 132 applications.
A review of USPS records revealed change of address requests for nearly every address associated with the voter applications — all of which investigators said were submitted only a few days prior to the voter applications.
The requests routed mail to just three addresses. Around 69 of the requests directed mail to the same mailbox in Fort Myers, which authorities said they traced to Shushlebin. He also used a second address on Logan Street.
Another 45 requests routed mail to an apartment on Gandy Boulevard, which is where the second suspect, Jamilov, was living at the time.
Due to the unusual nature of the voter applications, the Supervisor of Elections ultimately issued rejection letters to all 132 that were submitted.
Authorities said Shushlebin called the Supervisor of Elections in Pinellas County on March 7, 2023, under the alias Foster Haugen — one of the names used on a voter registration application — and asked why his application had been denied.
Phone records reportedly confirmed to authorities that Shushlebin was the caller.
Internet protocol (IP) addresses captured during the online voter registration process, and sets of fingerprints on the applications, also helped investigators identify the two suspects, according to the complaint. Jamilov’s fingerprints were reportedly found on at least 30 of the applications.
Detectives believe Shushlebin may have been involved in other fraudulent activities based on the discovery of several fraudulent driver’s licenses bearing the same fake names.
If convicted, Shushlebin and Jamilov face a maximum penalty of five years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.