A Mexican national has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after being convicted of falsely claiming U.S. citizenship in a passport application submitted in Gainesville, Georgia.
German Madrigal, 49, was found guilty of passport fraud following a two-day jury trial on April 29, 2025. According to information presented in court, Madrigal was born in Jalisco, Mexico, and entered the United States illegally with his parents as an infant. In the 1990s, Madrigal and his family moved to Hall County, Georgia. He was previously arrested for statutory rape and several drug trafficking offenses, at which time he reported Jalisco as his place of birth.
On December 9, 2021, Madrigal applied for a U.S. passport at a post office in Gainesville by presenting a Georgia driver’s license and a fraudulently obtained California birth record. The document had been acquired by his parents to conceal his lack of American citizenship and had also been used by Madrigal in 2010 during deportation proceedings.
U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg stated: “Because Madrigal lied about his foreign citizenship and used a fake birth certificate to try to obtain a U.S. passport, his next trip will be to a federal prison. Madrigal’s sentence sends a message to those who would use fraudulent identity documents to conceal their nationality: you will be caught, prosecuted, and punished.”
Gregory Batman, Acting Director of Diplomatic Security Service Domestic Operations, commented: “The Diplomatic Security Service is committed to investigating and pursuing anyone who applies for or obtains a United States passport using false documents. The U.S. passport is the most coveted travel document in the world. There are foreign nationals who attempt to fraudulently acquire U.S. passports to carry out criminal activities, including terrorism, inside our borders. These crimes threaten the national security of the United States.”
United States District Judge Steve C. Jones handed down the sentence on July 29, 2025: 18 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service. Assistant United States Attorney Brian Pearce prosecuted the case.
More information about the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia can be found at http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
