FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 17, 2008
JUAN RAMON HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO 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 Great Falls, on April 17, 2008, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, JUAN RAMON HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO, a 44-year-old resident of Mexico and California, appeared for sentencing. HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 12 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: 1 year
HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to false impersonation of a United States citizen.
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.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, HOLGUIN-VERDUZCO 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 Elizabeth A. Horsman prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
