The feds have uncovered another fake South Florida voter who pretended to be a U.S. citizen.
His real name is Ashley R. Rivers.
But the Margate man created the fictitious name of “Ashley Rad Hilliard” and lied about being a U.S. citizen when he applied for an American passport in 2016, according to an indictment. He then used that document to register for voting in Broward County, casting ballots in two presidential elections.
Rivers, 64, appeared on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale federal court on charges of making a false statement in applying for a passport and a false claim of citizenship in order to vote. He’s also charged with providing false information when he voted in the 2020 and 2024 general elections in Broward.
The indictment does not disclose Rivers’ actual citizenship, his native country or his party affiliation as a registered voter.
Rivers, who is being held at the Broward Sheriff’s Office jail, has a detention hearing and arraignment on Wednesday. His assistant federal defender could not be reached for comment.
Rivers is the latest phony voter in South Florida to be nabbed by federal agents with the State Department Diplomatic Security Service.
Stole identity of Puerto Rican man
Carlos Jose Abreu is also not a U.S. citizen.
Yet the Dominican Republic native voted twice in federal elections in Broward.
Abreu, 36, pleaded guilty this month to federal charges that he falsely registered as a voter under the stolen name of a man born in Puerto Rico with U.S. citizenship. Abreu admitted voting under that assumed identity in the 2016 and 2022 federal elections, according to prosecutors.
But it’s not clear from court records whether he registered as a Democrat, Republican or No Party Affiliation.
Abreu, who lives in Sunrise, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years for stealing the identity of the Puerto Rican. He also faces additional years in prison for passport and voting violations, along with possessing a gun as an undocumented immigrant.
His sentencing hearing is set for June 11 before U.S. District David Leibowitz in Fort Lauderdale federal court.
Since his arrest last year, Abreu has been held at the Broward Sheriff’s Office jail.
According to a factual statement filed with his guilty plea, Abreu is a citizen of the Dominican Republic who entered the United States and assumed the identity of the Puerto Rican, identified as “C.R.V.”, in 2007.
From that point until his arrest in August 2024, Abreu used that stolen name in his dealings with local, state and federal agencies. The Puerto Rican man was unaware of the identity theft.
Abreu registered to vote under C.R.V.’s name in Broward County and cast a ballot in the 2016 presidential election, the statement said. He renewed his registration in 2020 to vote in the 2022 midterm election, according to the statement signed by him, his defense lawyer, Wesley Wallace, and prosecutor Brianna Coakley.
Abreu, formerly of New Jersey, admitted that he “knew that the personal identifying information did not belong to him.”
“Those statements on the applications were false,” the court document said. “The defendant knew those statements were false.”
Carlos Jose Abreu
