Illegal Lottery Tied to Voter Registration Alleged

In late November, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional’s newspaper, Union Hispana, ran a photograph of a Fullerton man and his family standing next to a 1996 Chevrolet Camaro parked in the Guaranty Chevrolet lot in Santa Ana. The photo caption congratulated the family for winning the car.

However, in interviews with The Times and district attorney’s investigators, the winner said he did not get the Camaro, which investigators valued at between $18,000 and $20,000. Instead, he said he received $12,000 from Hermandad, which he used to purchase a 1990 Chevrolet van at an Anaheim used car lot.

Guaranty Chevrolet officials told The Times that they never sold a vehicle to Hermandad and did not know anything about a raffle.

Investigators say they believe Hermandad Mexicana Nacional’s Santa Ana office conspired to run an illegal raffle, where some persons were eligible to receive free tickets for a chance to win a new car simply by registering to vote, requesting an absentee ballot or voting, according to a search warrant affidavit unsealed Tuesday.

The court document contended that people also could receive a free raffle ticket if they filled out a U.S. citizenship application, joined Hermandad or renewed membership. Additional tickets could be purchased for $10 each.

“By running the raffle as a group, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional personnel appear to have conspired together to conduct an illegal lottery,” an investigator contends in the affidavit.

Under state law, such a lottery itself is illegal. Under federal law, it is a crime to offer anything of value in exchange for registering to vote or voting.

Last December, Hermandad officials said they stopped using the raffle the previous April as an inducement for registering or voting because they realized there might be legal problems. But the group continued to offer tickets for using their other services.

The Fullerton man, a permanent resident, has given two different explanations of how he obtained the winning raffle ticket. He told two Times reporters that he was given a single ticket in early 1996 when he registered for citizenship classes at Hermandad.

But according to the search warrant affidavit, he told investigators he received the ticket after registering to vote Aug. 8. Records show he did not vote in the Nov. 5 election.

In his interview with The Times, the Fullerton man complained that investigators questioned him in English and refused his request to call a Spanish-speaking officer.

The court document is confusing as to when he actually received the raffle ticket. The affidavit says he told one investigator he received the ticket Aug. 8, when he registered to vote.

However the affidavit also says the date on the ticket stub that he showed the investigator is April 25, which is about the time when the Fullerton man told The Times he signed up for citizenship classes and was given the ticket. He added that he was supposed to be sworn in as a citizen Aug. 8, but was told by an Immigration and Naturalization Service official that there was an unexplained problem with his file, and he was not naturalized.

Hermandad officials did not return telephone calls for comment.