An illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic has been charged with voter fraud after authorities say he stole an American citizen’s identity and voted in a federal election in Florida.

Carlos Jose Abreu, 45, registered to vote in 2020 and cast a ballot in the 2022 midterms, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said Tuesday.

Abreu sneaked into the U.S. about 25 years ago and lived in New Jersey where he married and had a child, according to court documents, but fled to Florida in 2007 after being accused of sexual assault, kidnapping and endangering the welfare of a child.

That’s when authorities say he stole the identity of a U.S. citizen who lives in Puerto Rico. He’s been using that identity ever since.

“Utilizing the stolen identity, the defendant obtained a Florida concealed weapons permit, purchased firearms, registered to vote, voted in state and federal elections and attempted to obtain a United States passport,” prosecutors told the court.

Last August, prosecutors charged Abreu with aggravated identity theft and multiple counts of making a false statement on a passport application. He pleaded guilty to the passport charges.

It’s not clear from court documents why he wasn’t charged with the gun and voter fraud offenses during the Biden administration.

Those new charges were handed up in an indictment last week, when the Trump administration was in charge.

The case challenges the claims of some voting rights groups that noncitizens don’t cast illegal ballots in elections.

Abreu’s voter case would not have come to light but for the decision by the U.S. attorney in Florida to add the new charges.

Since he was living here under the name of a real U.S. citizen, there would have been no way to flag his name as invalid during routine checks of voter lists.

Another illegal immigrant, Angelica Maria Francisco, was convicted of voter fraud and passport fraud and sentenced in January to five years in prison.

Authorities say the Guatemalan was living under a stolen identity, used it to register to vote in Alabama in 2016, then voted in the primary and general elections in 2016 and 2020.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has placed a detainer request on Francisco, asking that she be turned over to deportation officers when her prison sentence ends.

While those cases show illegal immigrants do vote, experts say the larger issue for noncitizen voting is legal residents — particularly green card holders. They end up registering, often while signing up for a driver’s license or other government services, then cast ballots illegally.

They often don’t come forward until they’re applying for citizenship and are asked to self-report any voting history.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.