Joshua S. Levy, U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts
An Indian national residing in Chelsea, Massachusetts, has been sentenced in federal court for making false statements on a U.S. passport application and to federal agents. Sharn Parzival, 25, received a sentence of time served, approximately five months, along with one year of supervised release from U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns. Parzival is also subject to deportation following his guilty plea in December 2024.
The case began on January 31, 2023, when Parzival submitted a U.S. passport application at a post office in Somerville, Massachusetts. In the application, he falsely claimed to have been born in Maryland and declared under penalty of perjury that he was a citizen or national of the United States. He provided copies of a Massachusetts driver’s license and a purported Maryland birth certificate as proof of identity and citizenship.
Investigations revealed that Parzival had entered the United States in 2021 from India on a non-immigrant student visa but was later expelled by the school he attended. Further investigation showed that the birth certificate was fraudulent and Maryland had never issued such a document in his name.
On April 26, 2023, Parzival visited the U.S. Department of State (DOS) office in Boston to inquire about his passport application's status. During an interview with DOS agents, he made several false statements including claims of being born in Maryland, having no affiliation with India, and never applying for a visa. A fingerprint analysis confirmed that his fingerprints matched those provided when he applied for the visa in India.
The announcement was made by United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Matthew O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service's Boston Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert E. Richardson from the Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.
