RALEIGH, N.C. - A Wake County man was arrested on naturalization fraud charges and had an initial appearance today before United States Magistrate Judge James E. Gates in Raleigh, North Carolina.
A federal grand jury had returned an indictment charging Edgar Daniel Cruz-Magallanes, age 29, a naturalized citizen of the U.S., born in Mexico, residing in Wake County, North Carolina, with naturalization fraud.
According to the indictment, Cruz-Magallanes knowingly failed to disclose during his naturalization proceedings that he had committed the crime of indecent liberties with a child. Cruz-Magallanes was thereafter naturalized as a United States citizen.
Cruz-Magallanes is charged in a 4-count indictment with naturalization fraud. If convicted, he faces up to a maximum imprisonment term of 25 years per count, a $250,000 fine per count, a term of supervised release following any term of imprisonment, and the revocation of his citizenship.
Robert J. Higdon, Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement. Agents with ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations, assigned to the Document Benefit Fraud Task Force, are investigating the case as part of Operation False Haven. Operation False Haven is an ongoing initiative to identify and prosecute felons who fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship.
An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
