A Bethlehem man who was found guilty of voting more than once in a federal election and voter fraud in March received his sentence on Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said.
Charges were brought against 32-year-old Matthew Laiss in Sept. 2025 for election fraud during the 2020 election, prosecutors said. He was convicted in March 2026.
According to prosecutors, Laiss resided on Ottsville, Pennsylvania, from at least Oct. 2012 to Aug. 2020 and was lawfully registered to vote there. However, Laiss moved to Frostproof, Florida, in or around Aug. 2020, obtained a driver’s license and registered to vote there.
In Oct. 2020, the Bucks County Board of Elections mailed Laiss a ballot at his old address, where his parents still lived, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors proved at trial that Laiss filled out his Pennsylvania ballot and submitted it in late October. He then went back to Florida and voted at a polling place there on or around Election Day.
Laiss claimed he voted twice for President Donald Trump, but that is unverifiable since he cast secret ballots in both Pennsylvania and Florida, according to court documents.
Laiss was sentenced to three years probation, with the first six months being home confinement, prosecutors said. He also received a $6,000 fine and $200 special assessment.
The FBI and the Pennsylvania Department of State assisted in the investigation.