2 Florida men are accused of stealing mail-in ballots from a post office box

• Two Florida men are accused of stealing mail, which contained two mail-in ballots, from a post office mailbox in Broward County, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
• Records reported by the Sun Sentinel say on October 27 a police officer saw Junior Alexander Cabral and Vladimir Cabral Cuevas idling beside a mailbox in Lighthouse Point, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale.
• When the officer stopped to question the men, he noticed a bag of mail between the front and center of the car, according to arrest records.
• Cabral and Cuevas were both arrested and charged with stealing ballots, fraud, and petit theft.

Two Florida men are accused of stealing mail, which contained two mail-in ballots, from a post office mailbox in Broward County, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

While on patrol on October 27 just before midnight, a police officer saw the men idling beside a mailbox in Lighthouse Point, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. When the officer stopped to question Junior Alexander Cabral, 28, and Vladimir Cabral Cuevas, 20, both of Miami-Dade County, he noticed a bag of mail between the front and center of the car, according to arrest reports.

The office also saw a device that was used to take mail from the post office mailbox. When the mail was set aside, two mail-in ballots were discovered in the pile.

Both Cabral and Cuevas were arrested and charged with stealing ballots, fraud, and petit theft.

While appearing in court on Thursday, Broward County Judge Corey Amanda Cawthon was troubled by the allegations, especially in an election where the timeliness of of mail-ballot arrivals has been a huge concern.

"I'm not going to speculate as to the intentions behind the allegations, what mail was intended to be recovered or not," she said. "But, I do have to take notice of the fact we have a very big election coming up next week and the timing seems to be aggravating in Mr. Cabral's case."

Defense attorney Richard Cooper, who is representing Cuevas, claimed that his client was being dragged into a political firestorm.

"My client was charged incorrectly by overzealous law enforcement looking to fill an empty narrative that would make a politically expedient mountain out of a molehill given the proximity to the general election," he told the Sun Sentinel in a statement on Thursday.

Cabral and Cuevas did not have any prior convictions, according to Broward assistant state attorney Katherine David, who asked for $10,000 bond with regard to the ballot theft charge. Bonds were set at $3,025 for each defendant.

Jack Vaccaro, the police commander of Lighthouse Point, said that the ballots would not be held in the investigation.

"We are making arrangements to return these two ballots to their owners so they can deliver them to be counted," he said.