NEWARK, N.J. – A Toms River man who is not a United States citizen has admitted to illegally voting in a federal election, according to federal prosecutors.
Eliezer Kadoch, 39, pleaded guilty in federal court in Trenton to a charge of voting by an alien after casting a ballot during New Jersey’s 2022 midterm election.
Federal authorities said Kadoch is a citizen of France and has never obtained U.S. citizenship. Despite that status, prosecutors said he participated in the November 2022 election, which included races for the U.S. House of Representatives.
The guilty plea was entered before U.S. Magistrate Judge J. Brendan Day. Sentencing is scheduled for October 26, 2026.
Kadoch could face a maximum penalty of six months in prison and a fine of up to $100,000, although the final sentence will be determined by the court.
Multiple federal agencies participated in the investigation including the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Officials said the matter was handled through the U.S. Attorney’s Office Election Integrity Task Force, which focuses on protecting federal elections and investigating potential violations of election law in New Jersey.
U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced the guilty plea, crediting federal investigators for their work on the case.
Election integrity has remained a topic of national debate in recent years, with supporters of stricter election enforcement arguing that even isolated incidents of unlawful voting warrant prosecution in order to maintain public confidence in the electoral process.
The case against Kadoch represents one of the relatively rare federal prosecutions in New Jersey involving a non-citizen admitting to casting a ballot in a federal election.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph McFarlane of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Special Prosecutions Division is handling the prosecution.
