Two men charged with election fraud in connection with Boyceville nomination papers
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — Two men have been charged with felony election fraud in connection with signing nomination papers for a candidate placed on the ballot in the spring election for the Boyceville Village Board.
Anthony P. Lippert, 40, made an initial appearance October 12 in Dunn County Circuit Court before Judge Rod Smeltzer on one felony count of election fraud.
Antonio Antunez-Sandoval, 28, made an initial appearance October 13 before Judge Smeltzer that was adjourned to November 10 on one felony count of election fraud and one misdemeanor count of fraud to obtain a driver’s license.
Judge Smeltzer set bail with a $500 signature bond for Lippert and with a $200 signature bond for Antunenz-Sandoval.
According to the criminal complaint, Boyceville Police Chief Greg Lamkin became aware of the situation after speaking with Darlene Lee, Boyceville clerk-treasurer, who said that one of the candidates on the ballot for the village board in the spring election had come to the village hall to register to vote and had identified himself with a Minnesota driver’s license.
Lee said she had told the man he could not register to vote without a valid Wisconsin photo identification and also discussed with the police chief that the man had filed to run for village trustee when it appeared he was not a resident of Boyceville. Lee also noted the man had requested to be removed from the ballot in the spring election, but she had told him it was too late for him to be removed, the complaint states.
Police Chief Lamkin requested a copy of the nomination paperwork on which the man had listed his address as 1020 Main Street in Boyceville.
According to the complaint, Police Chief Lamkin was aware “that RR owns numerous properties in town that he rents to his employees at Speciality Pallet Company, including 1020 Main Street.” When the police chief checked the man’s driver’s license and vehicle registration, both listed the man’s address as being in Richfield, Minnesota.
Nomination papers
Police Chief Lamkin reviewed the signature pages for the village board candidate’s nomination papers and observed the signature of Anthony Lippert, 1020 Main Street, Apartment B.
A search of online court records revealed numerous felony convictions in an Eau Claire County case (conviction date of June 19, 2015), two Chippewa County cases (with convictions in 2016 and 2019, with the 2019 case resulting in a 36 month sentence) and a second Eau Claire County case (with a conviction in 2019 and a three-year sentence), according to the complaint.
The police chief also saw the signature of Antonio Antunez-Sandoval. Police Chief Lamkin has had prior contacts with Antunez-Sandoval and cited him for operating without a license in 2019. The police chief identified Antunez-Sandoval by a Mexican consular identification card, and at that time, he was on probation in Eau Claire County. Another Boyceville office had pulled over Antunez-Sandoval in January of this year, and Antunez-Sandoval had a valid Wisconsin driver’s license issued to him in September of 2019, according to the complaint.
ICE and DMV
Police Chief Lamkin contacted a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Senior Detention and Deportation officer, who said Antunez-Sandoval is a Mexican national illegally in the United States arrested by ICE in March of 2017 and was released on bond in July of 2017 and is still in removal proceedings.
The police chief also contacted the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Division of Motor Vehicles to obtain copies of records Antunez-Sandoval used to apply for his driver’s license at the Menomonie DMV service center. Antunez-Sandoval indicated on the paperwork that he is a “temporary visitor,” after scratching out the check mark that he was a “permanent or conditional permanent resident,” and presented a social security card marked “valid for work only with DHS authorization,” employment authorization, his Mexican passport, and a pay stub from Speciality Pallet and Crate.
When the police chief spoke with the DMV fraud unit, a representative confirmed Antunez-Sandoval had multiple records, including operating while suspended in Eau Claire in 2015, operating without a license in Boyceville in 2018 and operating without a license in Eau Claire in 2018.
The DMV representative said Antunez-Sandoval was at first denied a work permit in 2019 and but then was issued a work permit in July of 2019, in spite of being in the country illegally and awaiting deportation, according to the complaint.
Conclusions
Although Police Chief Lamkin initially believed the owner of Specialty Pallet would have known Antunez-Sandoval was in the country illegally, he concluded Antunez-Sandoval had committed fraud to obtain a driver’s license and had used forged documents and made a false entry on a form to defraud Specialty Pallet to gain employment, the complaint states.
The police chief also concluded the man who had taken out nomination papers for the Boyceville Village Board was, in fact, a resident of Boyceville when he declared his candidacy but that he had not transferred his driver’s license or vehicle registration as he was required to do and would receive a warning.
Police Chief Lamkin further concluded Lippert and Antunez-Sandoval had both committed election fraud when Lippert signed the nomination form but was a convicted felon with no voting rights and when Antunez-Sandoval signed the nomination form but was an illegal resident ineligible to vote, the complaint states.
Election fraud is a Class I felony that carries a possible penalty, upon conviction, of a fine of up to $10,000 and/or a prison sentence of up to three years and six months.
Fraud in obtaining an operator’s license is a misdemeanor that, upon conviction, carries a possible penalty of a fine of up to $1,000 and/or six months in jail.
