Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Emelita Ignacio Arindela, a/k/a “Esperanza Ignacio Arindela," “Esperanza Hooper," Emily I. Arindela," and “Emily Ingacio Arindela," 43, of Mount Desert Island, Maine, and previously of the Philippines, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to passport fraud.
According to court records, in 2000, the defendant assumed the name and date of birth of her older sister in order to marry a U.S. citizen in the City of Valenzuela, Philippines. In 2002, she entered the United States under her sister’s identity. In 2009, she became a naturalized U.S. citizen using her sister’s identity. Later that year, she legally changed her name to Emily I. Arindela. In 2010, she applied for a U.S. passport using her new name and her sister’s date of birth.
The defendant faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. She will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The case was investigated by the Diplomatic Security Service of the U.S. Department of State.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
