SACRAMENTO - A fictitious and suspicious name, Felix Atuna, was used by an Acampo man hired to register voters in 2006. As a result, Acampo's Devon Derrel Goodlow will spend six months in jail after pleading guilty Tuesday to voter-fraud charges.

Goodlow, 40, was hired to register voters for the Proposition 84 campaign when he apparently decided to ease the process by making up the names of voters by the box load, according to San Joaquin County Registrar Austin Erdman.

Erdman said his staff thought there was something fishy going on when they found four registration cards for "Felix Atuna" living at 622 N. Sacramento St., the address of the Lodi chapter of the Salvation Army.

"There were literally boxes (of voter registration cards) that looked like they were written by the same person," Erdman said.

Erdman contacted the fraud unit of the Secretary of State's Office, which found enough evidence of shenanigans to bring the case to the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office, which prosecuted Goodlow.

Goodlow pleaded guilty in San Joaquin County Superior Court for attempting to register "Atuna" and was sentenced to six months in jail and five years' formal probation. He also was ordered not to engage in any voter registration activity for the term of his probation.

When reached by phone, Goodlow declined to be interviewed. "I'd rather not go through all of that," he said.

Secretary of State Debra Bowen said she's happy about the outcome of the case, and she thanked Erdman for being sharp-eyed.

"This case reinforces the fact that those who attempt to alter or pad the voter rolls with fictitious names will be caught, and they will be punished," Bowen said.

Contact Capitol Bureau Chief Hank Shaw at (916) 441-4078 or sacto@recordnet.com.

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