A Mexican citizen living in Houston stole another woman's identity to vote illegally, the Texas attorney general's office says.

Laura Janeth Garza

Laura Janeth Garza, 38, was indicted last week on two counts of illegal voting. Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday that his office planned to prosecute the case.

Paxton's office says Garza, who used the alias Angie Yadira Zamora, illegally registered to vote in Harris County after stealing a U.S. citizen's identity. Authorities learned of the case when the victim applied for a passport and discover that one already had been issued in her name to someone else.

Garza voted in 2004, 2012 and 2016, according to the attorney general's office. She is charged with ineligible voting and voter impersonation in the November 2016 election.

Garza was being held at the Montgomery County jail Monday, with bail set at $150,000. She faces up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine if she is convicted.

"This case demonstrates my office's commitment to protecting the integrity of elections," Paxton said in a written statement. "We will continue to do everything in our power to safeguard the electoral process in Texas."

Several people in North Texas have been convicted of illegal voting in recent years.

In March, a judge sentenced a Tarrant County woman to five years behind bars for voting illegally in the 2016 presidential election. Crystal Mason, 43, was on supervised release after a tax-fraud conviction, making her ineligible to cast a ballot.

In 2017, a Grand Prairie woman was sentenced to eight years in prison for voting despite not being a citizen. An attorney for Rosa Maria Ortega said she voted for Paxton in one election.

A Tarrant County justice of the peace, Russ Casey, resigned in March after pleading guilty to forging signatures on a petition to secure his place on a primary-election ballot. He was sentenced to five years' probation.