James Brass arrested in alleged California election fraud scheme

Federal authorities have arrested three individuals in connection with an alleged election fraud scheme targeting Los Angeles’ Skid Row. James Brass, 47, of Victorville, was taken into custody by the FBI following a pre-dawn vehicle pursuit. Prosecutors allege that Brass used his firm, Pinnacle Brass, to operate a signature mill that targeted the vulnerable homeless population.

According to the indictment, the defendants allegedly used a database to identify registered California voters and then paid homeless individuals small amounts of money to sign ballot initiative petitions using the stolen identities of those voters. Brass and his associates are accused of falsely declaring under penalty of perjury that the signatures were genuine.

Alongside Brass, federal charges were filed against two petition circulators: Courtney Price, 49, of Jacksonville, Florida, and Jateisha Herron, 33, of Boron, California. All three face charges of conspiracy to commit identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony. Brass and Price face additional counts of identity fraud. Prosecutors noted that Brass allegedly received over $41,000 from a petition management company in connection with these activities.