Carlos Dominguez Lopez, a 36-year-old Mexican citizen, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison after pleading guilty to making a false statement in a U.S. passport application and aggravated identity theft. The announcement was made by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
U.S. Attorney Heekin stated: “Trying to lie, cheat, and steal your way into this country won’t get you anything except a one-way ticket to federal prison and a swift deportation thereafter. My office remains committed to aggressively prosecuting criminal illegal aliens like this defendant who brazenly violate our immigration laws.”
According to court records, Dominguez Lopez assumed another person’s identity in July 2022 while applying for a U.S. passport at the Escambia County Clerk of Court Office. He used a birth certificate and identification card belonging to someone else without their permission. Following these actions, he was issued a U.S. passport under the false identity.
An ICE detainer has been placed on Dominguez Lopez, and deportation proceedings will begin after he serves his sentence.
The case resulted from an investigation by the United States Department of State Diplomatic Security Service and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Jessica S. Etherton prosecuted the case.
This prosecution is part of Operation Take Back America, which is a national initiative aimed at using Department of Justice resources to address illegal immigration, eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect communities from violent crime as well as human and drug trafficking.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices nationwide serving as principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. More information about this office can be found at https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.
