 In 2009, Lopez was charged by the Los Angeles District Attorney's office with eight felony counts, including voter-registration fraud, perjury, filing a false instrument, and fraudulent voting.In 2008, although Lopez lived at his Santa Ana home, he switched his voter registration to the Boyle Heights, Los Angeles office of Hermandad Mexicana Latinoamericana, the group he led, and allegedly cast an illegal ballot in Los Angeles County in the 2008 presidential primary, rather than Orange County.In court, Lopez was engaged in "a tumultuous judicial process, with Lopez jailed twice after conflicts with judges."