FBI arrests suspect accused of paying LA homeless to forge signatures using registered voters' identities

A California man was arrested early Thursday amid allegations that he and two others paid homeless people living in Los Angeles' Skid Row neighborhood to sign petitions using the stolen identities of registered voters in an effort to qualify ballot initiatives for local elections.

James Brass, 47, a.k.a. "Lord," was taken into federal custody in Victorville, 85 miles northeast of Los Angeles, the Justice Department said. Brass and the other two defendants — Courtney Price, 49, of Jacksonville, Florida, and Jateisha Herron, 33, of Boron, California — are charged with conspiracy to commit identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony.

Brass and Price are additionally charged with identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony.

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"Securing American elections from criminal interference is of the utmost importance to the FBI," Director Kash Patel wrote on X. "If you mess with our elections, the FBI will find you."

Brass allegedly orchestrated the ballot harvesting scheme through the management of a team of signature collectors, as well as collecting signatures himself, federal prosecutors said.

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Price and Herron were employed by Brass, authorities said.

From February through August, the trio allegedly gathered the identities of voters from a database and handed the information to homeless people on Skid Row, a neighborhood in downtown Los Angeles that contains one of the largest concentrations of homeless people in the United States.

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The homeless participants were allegedly paid to sign petitions in the names of the voters.

After the petitions were signed, Brass and Herron signed declarations at the bottom of the petitions, declaring that they personally witnessed the named registered voters sign the petitions and that each signature was, to the best of their knowledge, "the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be," federal prosecutors said.

The bogus petitions were turned in by Brass and Herron to petition coordinators. In total, authorities claim Brass was paid $41,600 from one petition management company.

Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, said the alleged conduct "undermines the confidence voters have in our election systems," adding his office "will vigorously investigate and charge anyone involved in corrupting our elections."

All three defendants face up to five years in prison per count if convicted. Brass is expected to appear in court Thursday.