College of Michigan scholar fled to China after being charged with voting illegally, FBI says
A Chinese language nationwide charged with voting illegally on the College of Michigan has fled the U.S., in line with a prison grievance filed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that was unsealed on Friday.
Haoxiang Gao was attending the Ann Arbor-based college in October 2024 and lived on campus, authorities stated.
Security officers with the college spoke with Gao on Oct. 28 after listening to experiences {that a} scholar had unlawfully forged a vote within the 2024 basic election, in line with the lately unsealed courtroom paperwork. CBS Detroit beforehand reported on the case however authorities did not determine Gao on the time.
Gao admitted through the dialog with the college that he registered to vote and did forged a vote at a polling location on campus on Oct. 27. He was charged by the state on Oct. 30 with one rely every of unauthorized elector trying to vote and making a false affidavit for the aim of securing voter registration, courtroom data present.
Throughout Gao’s arraignment, a decide ordered him to give up his Chinese language passport and to not depart Michigan, in line with the prison grievance. The passport handed in had a serial quantity ending in “1332.” A warrant for Gao was later issued after he missed courtroom hearings on March 6 and April 24.
The FBI stated within the submitting that Gao’s passport was within the possession of college security officers throughout a courtroom listening to. Nonetheless, in line with prosecutors, Gao boarded a Delta flight from Detroit Worldwide Airport to Shanghai, China, on Jan. 19 utilizing a Chinese language passport in his title with a serial quantity ending in “7137.”
CBS Information Detroit has reached out to the college for remark.
Gao has been federally charged with flight to keep away from prosecution, although the U.S. doesn’t have an extradition treaty with China.
The case is amongst only a few cases of noncitizens voting in federal elections in trendy historical past, research and investigations have discovered. Evaluation by the nonpartisan Brennan Heart for Justice discovered 30 circumstances of noncitizens suspected of voting within the 2024 basic election reported by election officers out of 23.5 million votes forged within the 42 jurisdictions reviewed.
contributed to this report.
