Karlene Daniels Samuels
Charged. Presumed innocent. Karlene Daniels Samuels, 55, of Saint Albans, New York, a citizen of Jamaica and lawful permanent resident of the United States, was charged by misdemeanor complaint with voting by an alien in a federal election, after prosecutors alleged she registered to vote using a false citizenship claim and cast a ballot in the November 5, 2024, federal general election. She was presented in federal court in Brooklyn on October 22, 2026.
Introduction
Karlene Daniels Samuels is a 55-year-old Saint Albans, New York, woman charged in the Eastern District of New York with voting by an alien in a federal election, a misdemeanor carrying a maximum sentence of one year in prison. The charge was announced October 23, 2026, by U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, Jr., together with HSI New York Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Pete Gizas, alongside the cases of Eoin Cranney and Ronald Sheldon Baird, who were charged in the same Brooklyn slate of illegal-voting prosecutions.
Samuels was presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge James R. Cho on October 22, 2026. Like Baird, she is charged by misdemeanor complaint rather than indictment; Cranney alone faces an indictment with up to six years’ exposure.
Background Information
According to the complaint against her, Samuels, who is not a citizen of the United States, allegedly submitted a fraudulent voter registration application to the Board of Elections in the City of New York in which she falsely asserted that she was a United States citizen, and then voted in the federal general election held on November 5, 2024.
In a voluntary interview with federal agents, prosecutors say, Samuels admitted, in substance and in part, that she was not a United States citizen and that she had voted in the November 5, 2024, federal general election knowing that she was not a citizen. The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, New York.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
The alleged conduct is the false registration claim and the single 2024 ballot. U.S. Attorney Nocella framed the prosecutions collectively: “It is illegal for non-citizens to knowingly vote in federal elections,” he stated, adding, “Our Office will prosecute those who illegally vote in order to preserve the integrity of our electoral process.” The release documents no court statement specific to Samuels.
The single count she faces — voting by an alien — carries a maximum of one year in prison. The office emphasized that the charges in the complaints are allegations and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Public Reaction and Consequences
Samuels was presented before Judge Cho on October 22, 2026, in the same court run as her co-defendants, and the release documents no defense statement and no attorney of record for her. The documented consequences are the federal charge itself, the court presentation, and the misdemeanor exposure of up to one year.
The release also documents no allegation that her ballot affected any race’s outcome; the charge concerns eligibility to vote, not any claimed effect on a result.
Current Status
As of the October 23, 2026, announcement, Karlene Daniels Samuels, 55, faces a single misdemeanor count of voting by an alien in a federal election, filed by complaint in the Eastern District of New York under docket number 26-MJ-192. No trial date has been announced. The charges are allegations: she is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The complaint alleges that Samuels asserted a citizenship status she did not hold to obtain a ballot in the 2024 general election, and reports of her own statement to agents acknowledge voting knowing she was not a citizen. As a lawful permanent resident facing a federal charge, she now carries a public prosecution record tying her name to an illegal-voting case — a misdemeanor by grading, but a federal one, brought in an announcement cycle the U.S. Attorney’s Office used to warn that it “will prosecute those who illegally vote in order to preserve the integrity of our electoral process.”
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, “Three Defendants Charged with Offenses for Voting as Non-Citizens,” October 23, 2026 — source