A Texas woman has been sentenced to five years in prison for voting in the 2016 presidential election when she was ineligible because she was on probation.
An attorney for 43-year-old Crystal Mason says she will appeal the punishment handed down this past week in Fort Worth. Mason is a former tax preparer who was previously convicted in 2012 on charges related to inflating refunds for clients.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports that Mason testified she didn’t know people convicted of felonies couldn’t vote until they complete their sentence. Shew was prosecuted in the same county where a Mexican national last year was sentenced to eight years in prison over illegal voting.
Voter fraud convictions are rare, but Texas Republicans leaders have zealously pursued a crackdown on illegal voting in recent years.
