Russian national who came to U.S. on au pair visa 2 decades ago charged with illegal voting

A Russian national who came to the U.S. more than 20 years ago on an au pair visa voted in person in the 2024 presidential election even though she never became a citizen, federal prosecutors in Detroit allege.

Victoria Aquilina, 43, was charged Sept. 18 with illegally voting in the election, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said. The specific charge, voting by an alien, was filed in a criminal information.

Prosecutors say Aquilina first entered the country using her Russian passport and a visa she got through an au pair program, and never became a naturalized citizen.

"American elections are for American citizens. And foreigners who undermine our election integrity threaten our republican institutions," U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said.

Homeland Security Investigations is investigating the case.

Prosecutors didn't say where Aquilina lives or where she cast her ballot. It's not clear whether she has an attorney or when she's due in court.

A criminal information is only an accusation and not evidence of guilt, and Aquilina is presumed innocent, prosecutors said.

The federal case comes about five weeks after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged five people accused of voting in Michigan elections while not U.S. citizens, and a sixth accused of registering her noncitizen husband to vote. As of that Aug. 13 announcement, Nessel's office said 22 of the 38 cases it had examined remained under review.

Federal prosecutors in Detroit also charged Haoxiang Gao, a Chinese national and University of Michigan student accused of voting at an on-campus polling site in Ann Arbor in October 2024. Gao fled to China in January 2025 after he was charged by the state.