FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
JUAN RAMON HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO PLEADS GUILTY IN U.S. FEDERAL COURT
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Great Falls on January 22, 2008, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, JUAN RAMON HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO, a 44-year-old resident of Mexico and California, pled guilty to false impersonation of a United States citizen. Sentencing is set for April 17, 2008. He is currently detained.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On November 15, 2007, at approximately 4:03 p.m., HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO arrived at the Sweetgrass port of entry after returning from a trip to Canada. HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO had delivered a commercial trailer to a business in Canada. HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO is a citizen of Mexico.
Upon his arrival in the United States at Sweetgrass, HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO presented a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officer an expired United States passport, in the name of George Martinez, date of birth August 25, 1955, in Arizona. The officer became suspicious of the passport and sent HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO inside the main inspection lobby for further questioning.
Another CBP officer examined the passport and became suspicions of the security features so she fingerprinted HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO. While his fingerprints were being processed, the officer questioned HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO about how he had obtained his passport. HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO stated that he had used a fraudulent birth certificate that a cousin had given to him when he applied for the passport. The fingerprint analysis found that he was actually JUAN RAMON HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO.
A review of immigration records found that HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO had been apprehended by United States Border Patrol officers in southern California on July 19, 1986. On August 15, 1986, HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO was transferred to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) processing center in Houston, Texas, and subsequently granted a voluntary departure from the United States on the same date at Brownsville, Texas. He was thus not formally deported at that time.
During a search, documents were found in HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO'S possession in the name of George Martinez, purporting the holder to have been born in Arizona on August 25, 1955, bearing HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO'S photograph.
HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO faces possible penalties of 3 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 1 year supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Horsman prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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A copy of the Offer of Proof can be obtained by contacting Sally Frank at (406) 247-4638.
