Guillermo Sainz Gurrola pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors tied to unlawful solicitation of voter registrations and received a one-month county jail sentence, a $1,000 fine and probation. Prosecutors allege he offered financial incentives that pressured canvassers to submit bogus registration forms; investigators flagged roughly 2,500 suspect forms in Lancaster County. Field+Media Corps — funded by Everybody Votes — cooperated with investigators and prohibited per-registration pay. Additional charges against several canvassers remain pending.
Manager Sentenced to One Month Over Pennsylvania Voter-Registration Quotas Ahead of 2024 Election
FILE - Voting booths are set up at a polling place in Newtown, Pa., Tuesday, April 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A Phoenix man who ran voter-registration drives across Pennsylvania ahead of the 2024 presidential election pleaded guilty Monday to three misdemeanor counts and was sentenced to one month in county jail. Guillermo Sainz Gurrola was also fined $1,000 and will serve probation after admitting to three counts of solicitation of registration.
What Prosecutors Say
Prosecutors say the charges stem from allegations that Sainz Gurrola offered financial incentives to canvassers who met quotas, a practice they described as unlawful. A court affidavit filed with the complaint says Sainz Gurrola, an employee of Field+Media Corps, “instituted unlawful financial incentives and pressures in his push to meet company goals to maintain funding which in turn spurred some canvassers to create and submit fake forms to earn more money.”
Related Investigations and Pending Charges
The Pennsylvania attorney general's office says additional charges remain pending against six canvassers. Those pending allegations include forgery, unsworn falsification, public records tampering and violations of state election and voter-registration laws; one canvasser also faces an identity-theft charge. Authorities say the canvassers worked in Lancaster, Berks and York counties.
Funding and Cooperation
Field+Media Corps received funding from Everybody Votes, an organization that works to increase voter registration in communities of color. The affidavit notes that Everybody Votes fully cooperated with investigators and that its contract with Field+Media expressly prohibited payments on a per-registration basis.
How The Case Began
Investigators say the probe began in the weeks before the general election when election officials in Lancaster County flagged roughly 2,500 voter-registration forms as potentially fraudulent. Officials reported suspicious handwriting, questionable signatures, incorrect addresses and other irregularities on many of the forms.
Political Reaction
During the final stretch of the presidential campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump publicly highlighted the episode, saying there had been “cheating” involving “2,600” votes. Authorities and court documents clarified the matter involved about 2,500 suspected fraudulent registration forms — not ballots or cast votes.
Court Proceedings
Sainz Gurrola's defense attorney, Timothy M. Stengel, said his client apologized in court. Authorities had previously identified him as Guillermo Sainz; the attorney and the online court docket list his full name as Guillermo Sainz Gurrola. Prosecutors say Sainz Gurrola managed Pennsylvania operations from May to October 2024.
Note: The investigation and related prosecutions remain active, and additional charges against several canvassers are pending.
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