Maria Guadalupe Bautista, 26, was sentenced earlier today to four and a half years in state prison for her role in a petition fraud scheme. The sentencing follows a jury’s guilty verdict in July on 13 counts of Fraudulent Use of Personal Information.
Bautista’s arrest in 2023 stemmed from an investigation that exposed her unlawful use of multiple individuals’ personal data, including an elected government official’s information, to falsify petition signatures.
Scheme Uncovered by Elections Office
The investigation began in November 2021 when the Office of Wesley Wilcox, Marion County Supervisor of Elections, alerted the Fifth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office to a complaint of widespread fraud related to a petition for Constitutional Amendment 21-16, concerning the Limited Authorization of Casino Gaming.
According to a report, Supervisor of Elections staff, responsible for verifying all collected petition signatures, identified two overtly fraudulent petitions bearing the signature of Maria Bautista, a paid registered petition circulator…