(The Center Square) – Denis Bouchard, the 70-year-old Canadian already having pleaded guilty to two false claims in connection to illegally voting in nine American elections, is going to prison for two months.
Bouchard has lived in the United States since the 1960s and never became a citizen, prosecutors say. Yet, he checked a box saying he was a United States citizen on registration applications and ballots. Voting records indicate participation in nine federal elections between 2004 and 2024 in two coastal counties of southeastern North Carolina.
According to the State Board of Elections, Bouchard has been removed from being registered in New Hanover County. Registered unaffiliated when removed, he voted in November elections in New Hanover County in 2004, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2022 and 2024, and in Pender County in 2016 and 2018.
In addition to guilt on two counts and earning two months in a federal prison, Justice James Dever of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina ordered one year of supervised release for Bouchard. The office of Ellis Boyle, federal attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina that handled prosecution, said Bouchard “will be subject to immigration consequences.”
“We will not allow aliens to disrupt and degrade the U.S. democratic system by lying to pervert the outcome our elections,” Boyle said in a release. “Every American citizen’s vote is sacred. Allowing a single illegal vote by any ineligible person destroys and negates a citizen’s vote.
“We have had recent statewide elections decided by 401 votes; some local elections decided by about 20 votes. It happened here, and it can happen anywhere. The prison sentence that the court imposed sends a strong warning about the consequences of attempting to take advantage of this country’s free and fair election process. We will protect the constitutional right of citizens to vote, and prosecute those who attempt to corrupt that system.”
U.S. Attorney Karen Haughton prosecuted the case. Investigations were collaborated by the FBI, North Carolina State Board of Elections, and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
