A Honduran national and lawful permanent resident living in the San Fernando Valley was arrested Friday, Aug. 28 on federal charges alleging he falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen when he registered to vote last year, authorities said.
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Darwin Jonathan Rivera Flores, 30, of Winnetka, who has not voted in an election, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, is charged with two felonies: making a false claim to U.S. citizenship and fraudulent voter registration.
Rivera Flores was born in Honduras, entered the United States in 2002 and is a lawful permanent resident, commonly known as a green card holder, according to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint. He is not a U.S. citizen.
Rivera Flores first came to the attention of Homeland Security Investigations in February, when immigration officials reported that he disrupted operations at a federal building in Camarillo and blocked an employee from accessing the building, according to the affidavit. It did not provide additional details about the incident.
HSI investigated and issued Rivera Flores a misdemeanor citation on Feb. 18 for obstructing access to a federal building. He later pleaded guilty and was placed on one year of unsupervised probation.
The following month, an employee with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations told an HSI agent that Rivera Flores confronted the employee near the federal building and threatened to find the employee’s neighborhood and home, according to the affidavit.
The HSI agent attempted to interview Rivera Flores about the encounter in April, but Rivera Flores declined.
Beginning later that month, the agent received text messages from unfamiliar phone numbers criticizing immigration enforcement, according to the affidavit. One message referred to the upcoming midterm elections and told the agent, in part, “I can’t wait until the mid terms.”
The messages read in part, “Your not the good guy I can’t wait until the mid terms you dont have qualified immunity then we can start and indict all you guys one bye one,” HSI said. Rivera continued texting the federal agent until July 2026.
A message the agent received in July used the phrase “correct their behavior,” which the agent said mirrored language Rivera Flores had used while speaking with him after issuing the February citation. The agent believed Rivera Flores was responsible for the messages.
Federal records identified Rivera Flores as a Honduran citizen and lawful permanent resident. California Department of Motor Vehicles records contained the same Winnetka address and included a photograph and signature that the agent said belonged to Rivera Flores.
The agent also searched public databases, including the California Secretary of State’s website, and discovered an online voter registration record under the name “Darwin Rivera” associated with Rivera Flores’ Winnetka address.
Investigators then obtained state election records related to the registration, including the application, receipt and an image of the signature, according to the affidavit.
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The registration, under the name “Darwin J Rivera,” contained the same address, birth date, email address and telephone number associated with Rivera Flores in other records. It listed his birthplace as the United States and contained a check mark next to the statement, “I am a U.S. Citizen,” according to the affidavit.
The application was dated Nov. 4, 2025. The agent also wrote that the signature submitted with the voter registration appeared to match Rivera Flores’ signature on his California driver’s license.
The agent reviewed Department of Homeland Security records and found no indication that Rivera Flores had applied for or obtained U.S. citizenship.
“Today’s arrest is the first of many to come,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement.
Essayli said California allows noncitizens to easily register to vote and receive ballots by mail, and he renewed a Justice Department request that California comply with requests to audit its voter rolls.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to say how many people had previously been charged in the Central District of California with fraudulent voter registration or falsely claiming U.S. citizenship in connection with voter registration. A spokesperson said investigations were ongoing but declined to say how many other cases are under investigation.
Rivera Flores was arrested Friday morning and was expected to make his initial appearance Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. If convicted, Rivera Flores faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison on each charge.
Documented cases of noncitizen voter registration and voting have been rare, according to state officials and reviews of election-fraud cases.
A database maintained by the conservative Heritage Foundation identified 98 convictions involving noncitizen registration or voting nationwide between 1982 and 2025, a period in which roughly 2 billion votes were cast in federal elections, that cited the database.
California Secretary of State Shirley Weber has also described noncitizen voting in the state as “exceedingly rare.”
The Southern California News Group has requested additional information from Los Angeles County about the number of noncitizens identified on its voter rolls and how many had cast ballots. That information was not immediately available Friday.
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