CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE - Sheldon Robinson, of Jamaica, pled guilty today to a one-count indictment alleging false statements in applying for a U.S. passport announced Acting U.S. Attorney Donald Feith.
Robinson is a citizen of Jamaica who was deported in 1997 under the name Patrick Alveranga. Robinson applied for a tourist visa under the Alveranga name in 1999 but the application was denied. In 2000, he applied for a worker visa under the name Sheldon Robinson. The application was granted with an expiration date of Dec. 15, 2000. Robinson overstayed his visa and applied for immigration status, which was denied. During the immigration status proceedings, it was discovered that Robinson was the same person deported under the Alveranga name in 1997. He was granted a voluntary departure and was ordered to depart on or before October 9, 2009. Robinson failed to depart and instead applied for a United States passport in June 4, 2011 under a false identity. He was indicted by a grand jury on March 11, 2015, after agents of the U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service uncovered the passport fraud.
Robinson pled guilty to willfully and knowingly making false statements to the State Department in a passport application in order to fraudulently obtain a United States passport. Robinson’s sentencing hearing was set by U.S. District Court Judge Landya McCafferty for Nov. 23, 2015 at 10:00 A.M. He faces a statutory penalty of up to five years in prison, but his advisory guideline range under the United States Sentencing Guidelines will recommend a sentence of six to twelve months
Robinson will be deported after serving his sentence.
The case was investigated by the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alfred Rubega is prosecuting this case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
