MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — A Haitian woman has pleaded guilty to federal charges after prosecutors said she falsely identified herself as a U.S. citizen while registering to vote in Miami-Dade County and then voted in the 2024 general election.
Valery Zidor, 23, pleaded guilty to two counts involving false claims of U.S. citizenship for voting purposes and one count of voting by an alien, according to federal prosecutors.
Court records cited by prosecutors say Zidor submitted two voter registration forms to the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections. On both forms, she indicated that she was a U.S. citizen even though she was not eligible for U.S. citizenship, prosecutors said.
She later cast a ballot in the 2024 general election in Miami-Dade County.
The guilty plea means Zidor has admitted to the conduct underlying the three federal charges. The case is now moving toward sentencing, which will be determined by a federal district court judge after considering the federal sentencing guidelines and other factors required by law.
U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said federal authorities would continue investigating deliberate violations of election law. Homeland Security Investigations’ Miami office is handling the investigation, while a federal prosecutor is pursuing the case.
Zidor faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison. The maximum penalty is not the same as the sentence she will ultimately receive, which has not yet been determined by the court.
The case is being handled in the Southern District of Florida under case number 26-cr-20129. Federal prosecutors said the investigation remains with HSI Miami.
For now, the guilty plea establishes Zidor’s admission to the federal charges, while the court will determine the next steps and any sentence in the case.
