An Iraqi-born Dutch national, in the United States illegally, was sentenced to five years in federal prison for unlawful possession of multiple firearms and ammunition, the Department of Justice reports.
Vires Al-Hakiem, age 43, a native of Iraq and citizen of the Netherlands, was sentenced in federal court in Detroit on May 31 before United States District Judge Laurie Michelson, the DOJ reported June 2. Al-Hakiem pleaded guilty in federal court in January to being "an unlawful alien in possession of a firearm and ammunition," the news release reports.
Al-Hakiem has previous criminal arrests for assault and battery, domestic violence, drug possession, malicious destruction of property and larceny, the release reports.
“Our office is dedicated to enforcing our immigration laws," U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said in the news release. "This defendant, who already had a lengthy criminal history, was both illegally present in the United States and illegally possessed a large number of guns and ammunition.
“Today’s sentence makes our community safer," Ison said in the release.
Court records show that in June 2021, "Al-Hakiem sent a text message containing a video to his then-spouse threatening her with a gun," the DOJ reports in the release.
"A subsequent search of Al-Hakiem’s bedroom found six firearms, 34 handgun magazines (7 of which were high capacity), 53 long-gun magazines (4 with extended capacity for ammunition) and over 2,600 rounds of ammunition," the release states.
The DOJ reports that after he serves his five-year sentence in U.S. federal prison, Al-Hakiem will be deported to the Netherlands.
Robert Danley, chief patrol agent for the Detroit sector of U.S. Border Patrol, said in the release that he is "proud of our Detroit Sector agents and their task force partners for the great work that made this conviction possible.”
Border Patrol agents, with the assistance of the FBI Macomb County Gang and Violent Crime task force, investigated the case.
“Protecting our Nation’s borders goes beyond patrolling an imaginary line on the ground or water, as this case clearly shows," Danley said in the news release. "The United States Border Patrol is dedicated to protecting all our communities from dangerous people such as this."
