Russian man hired others to submit fake voter registrations in Florida, feds say
A Russian citizen living in a Miami Beach apartment recruited several people into a scheme to submit more than 100 fake voter registration applications to a Florida county’s elections supervisor, federal court filings say
One of the individuals hired by Dmitry Shushlebin was Sanjar Jamilov, 32, who pleaded guilty to conspiring to submit fraudulent voter registrations, according to an April 29 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
Jamilov, a citizen of Uzbekistan, had his plea hearing at the Tampa federal courthouse on April 24, court records show.
His criminal defense attorney, David Haas, told McClatchy News in an emailed statement on April 30 that Jamilov “is deeply remorseful for the limited role that he played in the scheme perpetrated by Mr. Shushlebin.”
Shushlebin, 45, and Jamilov were charged in a seven-count indictment in connection with fake voter registrations submitted to the Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections in February and March of 2023, according to court documents.
The elections supervisor denied the registrations, which had the identities of various ”fictitious” individuals, after realizing the information provided was fraudulent, prosecutors say.
Haas told McClatchy News that “the creation of these identities was never intended to be used for voting or for influencing any election.”
Following the indictment, Shushlebin pleaded not guilty to all counts against him, court records show.
Shushlebin is represented by criminal defense attorneys Chad Piotrowski and Ama-Mariya Hoffenden.
“We respect the legal process and remain committed to ensuring that our client’s rights are fully protected throughout these proceedings,” Hoffenden, who’s based in Hollywood, Florida, told McClatchy News via email on April 30.
“At this stage, it’s important to remember that these are only allegations.”
The investigation
According to court documents, Jamilov’s fingerprints were found on 30 of the fake voter applications turned in to the Pinellas County elections supervisor. He was living in St. Petersburg, Florida, at the time of the scheme, according to prosecutors.
The fake applications were submitted in “envelopes with return and address labels that were identically formatted, including containing the same typographical error, and bore various indicia of fraud,” prosecutors say.
The same dates of birth, addresses and “nearly sequential Social Security numbers” on the applications raised authorities’ suspicions, according to prosecutors.
During the investigation, investigators went through Shushlebin’s iCloud account and found hundreds of images of driver’s licenses with various names, including names seen on the 132 voter registration applications, court documents say.
Another photo Shushlebin kept in connection with the scheme was of a woman believed to be a Russian theater actress working in St. Petersburg, Russia, according to court documents.
The photo shows the woman “holding a Michigan driver license bearing her photo,” as well as the name of a different person and a birth date, court documents say.
The name and date of birth were included on one of the fraudulent voter applications, according to investigators.
When authorities searched Shushlebin’s Miami Beach apartment, they discovered he kept credit cards and fake driver’s licenses with names tied to the fake voters, according to court documents.
As part of the scheme, prosecutors say multiple change of address forms were submitted to the U.S. Postal Service “to route mail to the names and addresses on the fraudulent applications to three locations that Shushlebin and Jamilov allegedly controlled.”
Jamilov’s roommate confronted him in February 2023 over several change of address forms that arrived at their apartment, prosecutors wrote in his plea agreement.
He told the roommate that the forms were mailed to him and his girlfriend “and that they were expecting to receive more,” prosecutors say.
What’s next?
Now that Jamilov has pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge, he’s facing up to five years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A jury trial for Shushlebin was initially scheduled for March 31 but was continued to a later date, court records show. A status conference is set to take place May 19.
The trial was continued to allow “both sides to adequately prepare,” according to an order by U.S. Judge Thomas P. Barber.
Piotrowski, who’s law firm is located in Miami, told McClatchy News on Shushlebin’s behalf that:
“We recognize the attention this case brings, but our focus is on the evidence — not the political optics.”
This story was originally published April 30, 2025 at 1:53 PM with the headline "Russian man hired others to submit fake voter registrations in Florida, feds say."
.jpg)