SHREVEPORT, La. - United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that an Indian national pleaded guilty Tuesday to making and using altered immigration documents.
Ajay Jawahar, 49, of India, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote to one count of fraud and misuse of visas, permits and other documents. According to the evidence presented at the guilty plea, while Jawahar was at the Louisiana Department of Public Safety’s Office of Motor Vehicles in Shreveport on Aug. 3, 2012, he presented five I-29s (U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services Notices of Action), which is a petition for a non-immigrant worker to stay in the United States. Three of the I-29s were altered by changing the dates on them to show Jawahar was lawfully in the United States. An Office of Motor Vehicles employee detected the fraudulent documents and notified federal authorities. When Homeland Security Investigations special agents questioned Jawahar about the documents, he admitted to altering them.
Jawahar faces not more than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine. The court can also order him deported. Jawahar is on bond pending his sentencing date of June 25, 2015.
United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement-Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Gillespie Jr. is prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
