United States Attorney David Metcalf announced that Matthew Laiss, 32, of Bethlehem, was sentenced today to three years of probation with the first six months on home confinement, a $6,000 fine, and $200 special assessment by United States District Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. for election fraud offenses in connection with the 2020 presidential election.

The defendant was charged by indictment in September of last year with one count of voting more than once in a federal election and one count of voter fraud. In March, he was convicted on both charges at trial.

As detailed in court filings, from at least October 2012 until about August 2020, Laiss resided in, and was lawfully registered to vote in Ottsville, Pennsylvania, a municipality located in Bucks County. In or around August 2020, Laiss moved his primary residence from Ottsville to Frostproof, Florida. The same month, he applied for and obtained a Florida driver’s license and registered to vote in Florida.

In October 2020, the Bucks County Board of Elections mailed a ballot for the November 2020 general election to the defendant’s former address in Ottsville, where Laiss’s parents continued to reside.

As proven at trial, on or about Oct. 31, 2020, Laiss filled out and returned the Pennsylvania mail-in ballot, casting a vote for the offices of president and vice president of the United States of America.

On about Nov. 3, 2020, Laiss went to a polling location in or around Frostproof, Florida, and voted in the 2020 general election, casting a vote for the offices of president and vice president of the United States of America.

This case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Pennsylvania Department of State, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Mark Dubnoff.