"Texas jury convicts Mexican woman of illegal voting" - 8 year sentence + $8000 fine

[kelly1mm]

A Tarrant County jury on Thursday sentenced a Mexican woman to eight years in jail a day after convicting her of two counts of illegal voting by a non-citizen. She will also have to pay an $8,000 fine.
During the trial, prosecutors showed that Rosa Maria Ortega -- a 37-year-old Mexican national who public records show has lived in the Dallas area since she was 15 -- falsely claimed U.S. citizenship on a voter registration form and voted five times between 2004 and 2014, according to a news release from the state attorney general's office.

Ortega testified in court on Wednesday that when she voted she did not understand the difference between rights accorded to citizens and legal residents, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
"I didn't have the study, the guidance, the education," Ortega testified. The Star-Telegram reported that she told jurors she thought state officials would tell her if she was not allowed to vote. However, the Tarrant County voter registration form clearly states that non-citizens should not register to vote.


http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/texas/article/Texas-jury-convicts-woman-voter-fraud-10921152.php


8 years! A little harsh!

[guillaumeb]

1. Only 2 counts?

Clinton received 3 million more votes than Trump. This woman only accounts for 2 of them.

[kelly1mm]

3. it was for 2004-2014 not the 2016 election. nt

[Skittles]

5. how do we know who she voted for?

[guillaumeb]

7. Because only partriotic Americans voted for Trump.

That was an easy question.

[Fluke a Snooker]

2. Let cities decide who vote

We have a precedent for cities allowing all immigrants, no matter their citizenship status, to vote in non-federal elections. We should be finding out how to get every large city with immigrants to pass such a law to prevent Trump and the GOP from arresting individuals and splitting up their families.

[logosoco]

4. I guess the trumpsters are going to run with this!

There is so much wrong here. How much time and effort was put into finding this ONE person? If a person lives here and is paying taxes, they should have some rights to vote here. And EIGHT years and $8000? That is way overboard. At most I would say community service, since it sounds like she honestly did not know. But I kind of doubt this ONE woman voting 5 times in 10 years made any difference.
Hacking seems like much more the problem in voting issues. How much time and money is spent on finding out those problems?

[gratuitous]

9. Undoubtedly

Now if they can find just another 2,799,999, they'll be able to say that Trump won the popular vote.

[scscholar]

6. Now if we could just get state employees that don't count votes...

like here in Washington state charged, that would be great. They're attacking the small problem and ignoring the much bigger problem.

[TrekLuver]

8. Who's to say she didn't vote Repiglican? This sentence is ridiculous. I mean let the punishment

fit the crime.

[Jose Garcia]

11. Send her to Russia?

That where other foreigners who interfere with US elections live.

[BSdetect]

10. Outrageously harsh sentence.

Lets do that with the real criminals like Flynn then. Life?