Former Boyceville man charged with election fraud pleads “not guilty”
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By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A 30-year-old former Boyceville man charged with election fraud in Dunn County has been bound over trial and has pleaded not guilty.
Antonio Antunez-Sandoval appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court July 29 with his attorney, Richard Louis Yonko, before Judge Christina Mayer for a preliminary hearing and an arraignment.
Boyceville Police Chief Greg Lamkin was the only witness called to give testimony, and following the preliminary hearing, Judge Mayer found probable cause, bound Antunenz-Sandoval over for trial and accepted a plea of “not guilty,” according to online court records.
Antunenz-Sandoval is charged with one felony count of election fraud and one misdemeanor count of using fraud to obtain an identification card.
The defendant is scheduled for another court hearing October 13.
Online court records list Antunenz-Sandoval as currently having an Altoona address.
Nomination papers
According to the criminal complaint, Boyceville Police Chief Greg Lamkin became aware of election fraud 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 of 2020 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 the man “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.
Police Chief Lamkin reviewed the signature pages for the village board candidate’s nomination papers and observed 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 2020, and Antunez-Sandoval had a valid Wisconsin driver’s license issued to him in September of 2019, according to the complaint.
Mexican national
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.
Election fraud
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 Antunez-Sandoval had committed election fraud when he 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.
