FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 08, 2007
HERMINIO CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO SENTENCED IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Missoula, on November 8, 2007, before Chief U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, HERMINIO CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO, a 32-year-old resident of Manhattan, appeared for sentencing. CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 25 months
- Special Assessment: $400
- Supervised Release: 3 years
CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to passport fraud and aggravated identity theft.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On June 9, 2005, CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO applied for a United States passport in Bozeman. He submitted a completed Application for United States Passport to the Clerk of District Court in Bozeman. The passport application submitted on June 9, 2005, had CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO's photograph affixed to the form. CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO identified himself on the passport application as Abelardo Soto who was born in Hatillo, Puerto Rico, on October 5, 1968.
Investigation found that CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO was actually born as Herminio Castellanos-Cornejo on August 5 ,1975, in Guadalajara, Mexico.
CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO also listed on the application form a Social Security number which was a valid number assigned to another person in Puerto Rico. Further investigation found that CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO did not have a Social Security account number assigned to him.
On February 15, 2005, in Belgrade, CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO filled out an ATF Firearms Transaction Record Form 4473 at Debos V, a licensed firearms dealer, in order to purchase a Ruger M77 rifle.
On the Firearms Transaction Record Form, CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO represented that his name was Abelardo Soto, that his Social Security number was the valid number assigned to another person in Puerto Rico, that he was born in Puerto Rico on October 5, 1968, and that he was not an illegal alien. Testimony would have shown that each of these representations were false.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, CASTELLANOS-CORNEJO does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael S. Lahr prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the State Department.
