GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Federal prosecutors have unsealed a criminal case against a Chinese man accused of voting illegally in the 2024 election.
The documents provide details on how 19-year-old University of Michigan student Haoxiang Gao managed to leave the U.S. despite surrendering his Chinese passport and agreeing to stay in Michigan while on bond.
The case was unsealed seven months after authorities revealed that a student who wasn’t a U.S. citizen had cast a ballot for the presidential election at an early voting site in Ann Arbor.
Gao cast his ballot in late October, but then reportedly contacted the local clerk, asking if he could somehow get his ballot back.
University investigators spoke with Gao the next day. An FBI agent wrote in the criminal case that Gao admitted to casting a vote. Law enforcement charged Gao with perjury on Nov. 8, 2024 — a charge that carries a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Prosecutors say Gao surrendered one Chinese passport but used a second one issued in his name to board a Delta flight leaving from Detroit to Shanghai on Jan. 19. It was unclear how he obtained the second passport.
“We have authorized his extradition from anywhere in the world, and remain committed to prosecuting the case to the fullest extent of the law,” Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit said, according to the Detroit News.
By fleeing the country, Gao is now being additionally charged with flight to avoid prosecution, a felony punishable by up to five years in federal prison, on top of possible prison time for his other charges.
In April, a review by the Michigan Secretary of State’s office identified 15 non-U.S. citizens who cast ballots in the November election, the Detroit News reports.
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