5 Indicted On Voter Fraud Charges In Lake County

WAUKEGAN, IL — An 89-year-old Riverwoods man accused of voting in two counties is among five Lake County residents indicted Wednesday on voter fraud felonies related to the November 2016 election, according to prosecutors and court records. Prosecutors said three other county residents were charged with lying about their citizenship while voting, and a 70-year-old Mundelein woman was accused of voting both in person and by mail.

Each charge is a class 3 felony with a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison, although the charges are also eligible to receive probation.

Beach Park residents Marcelo Villaruz, 63, and his wife Gina Villaruz, 51, and 56-year-old Yvette Yust of Waukegan are each charged with two counts of felony perjury for misrepresenting their citizenship status in connection with voting in the election, according to a spokesperson for the Lake County State's Attorney's office.

Marvin Hershman, 89, of Riverwoods, and Janet Pokryfke, 70, of Mundelein, have each been accused of voting twice. They are each charged with two counts of voting more than once and one count of perjury, according to prosecutors.

All five are scheduled to return to court March 21 to be arraigned.

Lake County State's Attorney Mike Nerheim told the Daily Herald that the voter fraud complaints were discovered by the Lake County clerk's office and turned over to his office to investigate.

"Through these investigations and prosecutions, we are hoping to end a message to the community that interfering with our election process, which is the core of our democracy, will not be tolerated," Nerheim said.

With the latest charges, a total of eight people have been indicted on charges related to the 2016 election by Lake County grand juries, if you include primaries and school board votes.

Two Liberyville-Vernon Hills High School District 128 officials –board member Ellen Mauer and assistant to the superintendent, Denise Zwit, are currently in negotiations with Nerheim's office for possible plea deals to resolve charges of perjury connected to paperwork in the 2016 school board election, according to the Lake County News-Sun.

Lake County Corner Thomas Rudd is due to stand trial May 21 on five perjury counts in connection with his signatures on nominating petitions for the Democratic primary.