In Massachusetts, a Chinese citizen illegally assumed the identity of another Chinese individual to participate in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Moreover, this individual also impersonated the victim’s identity and falsified a green card application, leading to the victim being placed directly into deportation proceedings.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Yupeng Sun, a 33-year-old Chinese citizen, has been charged with one count of false voter registration and one count of fraudulent voting. Sun will make his initial appearance at the Boston federal court at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to court documents, on October 10, 2024, Sun impersonated another Chinese citizen residing in Massachusetts with legal permanent resident status and submitted an online voter registration application through the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s website.
On October 31, 2024, Sun continued to impersonate the same Chinese citizen and submitted an early voting ballot for the 2024 U.S. presidential election at the Malden City Hall.
Furthermore, Sun is suspected of impersonating the victim and his wife (both Chinese nationals) to submit two false immigration forms, actively applying to relinquish their legal permanent resident status in the U.S.
The couple, upon returning to the U.S. from an international trip in June 2024, underwent a second inspection at Logan Airport in Boston, where their green cards were confiscated, leading to deportation proceedings.
According to the indictment, Sun is a Chinese citizen born in Shaanxi Province, China. He entered the U.S. on September 22, 2020, on a B-2 tourist visa which expired on March 21, 2021. On February 11, 2022, he applied for a U visa and currently holds deferred action status.
Court documents reveal that the victim (identified as J.L.) is Sun’s Chinese landlord. Sun rented a house from J.L. between 2021 and 2023 and was involved in several disputes with the landlord’s family.
In May 2023, Sun was arrested for allegedly assaulting J.L.’s adult daughter (identified as Z.L.), but the charges were later dropped. Subsequently, he was involved in a civil lawsuit with the landlord’s daughter. An affidavit stated that Sun expressed dissatisfaction towards the landlord couple and their daughter during police interviews.
Fortunately, after hearing testimonies from the landlord couple and handwriting analysis, an immigration judge concluded in January 2026 that the couple had not signed any documents to relinquish their green cards and ordered the restoration of their permanent resident status.
In 2026, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) received multiple anonymous tip-offs alleging illegal voting by the landlord. Investigators indicated that the IP addresses linked to the emails matched Sun’s devices.
During questioning by agents in July, Sun admitted to sending the tip-offs, registering to vote on behalf of the landlord, casting votes in the landlord’s name, and forging signatures on an I-407 form.
The federal government has charged Sun with crimes of false voter registration and fraudulent voting. The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine per count. The defendant is expected to be deported upon completion of his sentence. The related charges are pending trial and do not indicate a conviction.