An illegal alien from Mexico has been charged with multiple federal offenses after allegedly using a stolen identity to obtain official documents and cast a ballot in Tarrant County.
Eliseo Morales-Tapia, 58, was charged by federal complaint on March 20, 2026, with identity theft, voter fraud, and passport fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced.
According to the complaint, Morales-Tapia assumed the identity of a U.S. citizen from Chicago, Illinois, and used that identity to obtain a Texas driver’s license, Texas identification card, Social Security card, and a U.S. passport.
Federal authorities allege Morales-Tapia used the victim’s birth certificate, Social Security number, and other identifying information to secure the documents. Investigators further allege that he affirmed U.S. citizenship while updating his driver’s license information in October 2025 and that he voted in a Tarrant County election on November 5, 2024, using the assumed identity.
Morales-Tapia appeared before a U.S. magistrate judge on March 25 and remains in federal custody pending further proceedings.
If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, including potential penalties of up to five years for identity theft and voter fraud charges and up to 10 years for passport fraud.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Dallas Field Office led the investigation, with assistance from the Diplomatic Security Service, Internal Revenue Service, Texas Department of Public Safety, Frisco Police Department, and Richardson Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Capoccia is prosecuting the case.
A federal complaint is an allegation of criminal conduct, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, a separate case in Harris County involves a British national, Samuel James Hall, who pleaded not guilty to a federal misdemeanor charge alleging he voted in the 2024 general election despite not being a U.S. citizen. Federal prosecutors allege Hall cast a ballot in races for president, vice president, U.S. Senate, and the House of Representatives.
The Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar’s Office said it identified Hall on the voter rolls in June 2025 and removed him after he self-canceled his registration.
State officials have also flagged potential irregularities in voter registration records. The Texas Secretary of State’s Office reported that after comparing voter rolls with a federal database, 2,724 individuals were identified as potential noncitizens registered to vote statewide.
The office also identified 33 individuals who may have voted illegally in the 2024 general election and referred those cases to the Texas Attorney General’s Office for investigation.
The case has drawn responses from local officials.
“This incident confirms what we already knew: that illegal aliens are still on the voter rolls and still voting in our elections,” Texas State Board of Education Member Brandon Hall (District 11) told The Dallas Express. “Weak-willed Republican U.S. Senators like John Cornyn, who have failed to pass the SAVE Act and secure our elections, are just as much to blame for this as the Democrats who opened the border.”
“This case is a serious reminder that election integrity, border security, and the rule of law must remain non-negotiable priorities,” Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare told The Dallas Express. He added that citizenship verification must be enforced at every stage of the voter registration process to ensure only eligible voters cast ballots.
“This is further proof that the Senate needs to pass the SAVE Act immediately,” former Tarrant County GOP Chair Bo French, a candidate for the Texas Railroad Commission, told The Dallas Express.
