A San Bernardino County man was arrested today on a federal grand...

A San Bernardino County man was arrested today on a federal grand jury indictment charging him and two other defendants with paying people on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles to sign petitions using stolen identities of registered voters to qualify initiatives on ballots in California elections.

James Brass, 47, a.k.a. “Lord,” of Victorville, was arrested this morning and is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside.

Also charged in the two-count indictment are two petition circulators who worked for Brass: Courtney Price, 49, of Jacksonville, Florida, and Jateisha Herron, 33, of Boron, California.

All three defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony. Brass and Price are charged with an additional count of identity fraud in furtherance of a state felony.

Patrick Grandy, FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office, said, “It is imperative that Americans have confidence in our voting system and election infrastructure. The scheme outlined in today’s indictment sought to undermine an essential pillar of our democracy and cause an undue burden on taxpayers. We will remain vigilant in detecting those trying to weaken our political process and we will aggressively investigate any allegations of voter fraud or other election crimes.”