Office of Public Affairs | Justice Department Moves to Strip U.S. Citizenship from 17 Naturalized Sex Offenders, Fraudsters, Drug Dealers, and More

The Department of Justice announced today that it filed denaturalization actions in various U.S. district courts against 17 individuals accused of serious offenses—including sexual abuse of a minor, wire and bank fraud, and distributing drugs wholesale without a license.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, a naturalized U.S. citizen’s citizenship may be revoked, and certificate of naturalization canceled, if the naturalization was illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation.

“When criminal aliens exploit the naturalization process by breaking the law, there are consequences. Criminal aliens are lying about their past crimes, including drug dealers, sexual predators, and fraudsters. Gaining U.S. citizenship is a privilege and under the steadfast leadership of President Trump, this Department of Justice maintains a zero-tolerance policy for the abuse of this process,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. “We continue to work around the clock with our interagency partners to make sure U.S. citizenship is granted to those who truly deserve it.”

“American citizenship is a privilege, and it must be earned honestly. If you come here break our laws, and lie in your immigration proceedings, you forfeit that privilege,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “DHS will not stand idly by while Americans are harmed by criminals including sex offenders, perpetrators of fraud, and drug traffickers who have exploited our generosity and gamed our immigration system. We will continue to use every lawful avenue to denaturalize and remove aliens.” 

“We will not turn a blind eye to those who unlawfully obtained U.S. citizenship,” Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “Anyone thinking they can defraud the naturalization process should think again. We will continue to pursue anyone who unlawfully or fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship.”

1. Leidys Delmas Garcia (Age 54/Cuba): Delmas Garcia is a native of Cuba who was convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.  The U.S. seeks an order revoking Delmas Garcia’s naturalization based on her admission in criminal proceedings that she and her co-conspirators established and operated 30 physical therapy clinics in Florida that fraudulently billed commercial insurance provider Blue Cross, Blue Shield approximately $36,728,595 for physical therapy services that were not medically necessary and/or never provided.  During her naturalization interview, Delmas Garcia represented under penalty of perjury that she had not committed crimes for which she had not been arrested and that she had never given false or misleading information to any U.S. government official while applying for any immigration benefit.  Neither was true.
2. Jean Claude Alfred (Age 68/Haiti): The United States filed a denaturalization action against Jean Claude Alfred, a native of Haiti who naturalized as a U.S. citizen in 1994. Beginning in September 1993, approximately one month before filing his naturalization application, Alfred repeatedly sexually abused his minor daughter and continued that conduct during the pendency of his naturalization proceedings. During the naturalization process, Alfred represented in his application and under oath that he had not committed any crime for which he had not been arrested and concealed his ongoing criminal conduct. In 1996, a Florida jury convicted Alfred of attempted sexual battery upon a child in a familial or custodial relationship and lewd, lascivious, and indecent assault upon a child under the age of 16 for Alfred’s criminal conduct that began in September 1993, before he naturalized. The denaturalization complaint alleges that Alfred illegally procured his citizenship because he provided false testimony which prevented him from establishing good moral character required for naturalization. The complaint further alleges that Alfred obtained citizenship through the concealment and willful misrepresentation of material facts concerning his sexual abuse of a minor.
3. Andrea Marroquin (Age 44/Colombia): Marroquin is the daughter of a major Colombian drug trafficker who inherited his money when he died. She obtained permanent residence in the United States by concealing her bigamous marriage to a United States citizen. Between 2003 and 2011, she conspired to engage in wire and bank fraud and money laundering, using her late father’s drug money to finance fraudulent real estate transactions in Miami, Florida. She became a naturalized citizen in 2009 by concealing her crimes. The United States has brought four claims against Marroquin seeking her denaturalization, including claims she knowingly lied to immigration authorities and lacked the good moral character to become a U.S. citizen.
4. Maria Lourdes Montoya (Age 63/Mexico): On June 4, 2026, the United States brought a denaturalization action against Maria Lourdes Montoya, who misrepresented her husband’s identify to secure permanent residence and later citizenship. In support of both her application for permanent residence and naturalization, Montoya represented herself to be the spouse of a U.S. Citizen—Gilberto Montoya. But Montya was never married to Gilberto Montoya, who died decades earlier. Instead, Montoya was marred to Ernesto Orozco-Viramontes, a Mexican national who had assumed the identity of Gilberto. Montoya was aware of her husband’s deception and leveraged it to obtain immigration benefits, including naturalized citizenship. The United States filed a five-count complaint against Montoya seeking to cancel her naturalized citizenship.
5. Tahir Lekaj (Age 43/Yugoslavia): Lekaj was admitted to the United States in August 1999 and subsequently obtained permanent residence.  When he applied to naturalize in 2004, Mr. Lekaj wrote in his application that he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested.  He later repeated that claim orally and under oath during his naturalization interview.  His application was approved, and he naturalized in May 2005.  However, in 2022, the State of Connecticut convicted Mr. Lekaj of two counts of sexually abusing a child under the age of 15 in January 2003.  Evidence at trial indicated that the victim was 10 years old when the abuse began.  The United States filed a complaint seeking to revoke Mr. Lekaj’s citizenship because he illegally procured his citizenship because he was unable to demonstrate the good moral character required of naturalization because of the sexual abuse.  Additionally, Mr. Lekaj is subject to denaturalization because he willfully misrepresented or concealed the sexual abuse while seeking United States citizenship.
6. Talman Harris (Age 49/Jamaica): Over an eight-year period, including during his 2012-2014 naturalization proceedings, Talman Harris, a native of Jamaica, conspired to manipulate the price and volume of shares of stock in publicly traded companies, causing more than $54 million to be invested in artificially controlled shares and an ultimate loss to investors of approximately $39 million from the scheme.  In 2016, after Harris naturalized, a jury found him guilty of wire fraud and conspiring to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, with his fraudulent wire transfers and the conspiracy occurring during the period in which Harris was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character to naturalize.  The denaturalization complaint against Harris alleges that, during the period in which he was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character, he committed a crime involving moral turpitude, committed unlawful acts that adversely reflected on his moral character, and falsely testified about his crime.  The complaint additionally alleges that Harris willfully misrepresented the material fact of his crimes during his naturalization proceedings.
7. Armando Mendoza (Age 39/Mexico): Before Mendoza naturalized, he began knowingly receiving sexually explicit images of minors as early as 2009.  In his 2011 naturalization application and interview, however, Mendoza, a Mexico native, claimed that he had never committed a crime or offense for which he had not been arrested.  In 2013, after he naturalized, Mendoza pled guilty to the receipt of such images.  The denaturalization complaint against Mendoza alleges that, during the period in which he was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character, Mendoza was precluded from doing so because he had committed a crime involving moral turpitude, committed unlawful acts that adversely reflected on his moral character, and falsely testified about his crime.  Additionally, the complaint alleges that Mendoza willfully misrepresented the material fact of his crime during his naturalization proceedings.
8. Neeraj Sharma (Age 50/India): Neeraj Sharma, a native of India, was both the owner and chief executive officer of Magnavision LLC, a staffing company located in New Jersey.  As an officer of Magnavision LLC, Sharma signed and filed eleven fraudulent H-1B visa petitions with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”).  Each petition included false representations that the visa beneficiaries would be employed with a particular global financial institution, and also included letters on official corporate letterhead with forged signatures of the executives. In 2017,  Sharma applied for naturalization, and under penalty of perjury, falsely asserted that he had never:  (a) committed a crime or offense for which he was not arrested; (b) given any U.S. Government officials any information or documentation that was false or misleading; and (c) lied to any U.S. Government official to gain immigration benefits.  Based on these material falsehoods, USCIS approved his application, and Defendant became a U.S. citizen in December 2017.  Subsequently, Defendant was convicted of Fraud and Misuse of Visas, in violation of 8 U.S.C. § 1546, with the date of offense between April 25, 2015, through April 27, 2017.  The United States seeks to revoke Defendant’s naturalization, pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1451(a), as an alien who illegally procured his naturalization by:  (1) failing to disclose unlawful acts; (2) providing false testimony; and (3) concealment of a material fact and willful misrepresentation.
9. Federico Michel Fermin (Age 54/Dominican Republic): From September 2004 through August 2005, Federico Michel Fermin, a native of the Dominican Republic, conspired with others to distribute more than $1.7 million in prescription drugs wholesale without a license.  As part of the criminal conspiracy, Fermin altered drug packaging and caused it to be altered so that the prescription drugs that were distributed to pharmacies would appear to have been purchased from persons who were licensed to distribute them.  On May 12, 2011, a jury convicted Fermin of conspiracy to distribute prescription drugs wholesale without a license, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.  He was sentenced to 48 months imprisonment.  However, during his naturalization process, Fermin represented, under penalty of perjury, that he had never knowingly committed any crime for which he had not been arrested and testified under oath to the same at his naturalization interview.  Accordingly, Fermin illegally procured is naturalization as a United States citizen because he misrepresented and concealed facts that were material to determining his eligibility for naturalization.
10. Abdikadir Ali Kadiye (Age 54/Somalia): On June 3, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota filed a civil denaturalization complaint in District of Minnesota against Abdikadir Ali Kadiye. Beginning in April of 1997, Kadiye sought admission to the United States by filing applications under two separate identities. Kadiye initially sought admission to the United States under the identity Liban M. Degel and he claimed that he was married with no children. After an immigration judge denied his application for immigration benefits, Kadiye submitted a second application under the identity of Abdikadir Ali Kadiye. After his naturalization, Kadiye admitted to a customs and border patrol agent that he had previously used two identities for admission for admission.
11. Victor San Shing Kwok (Age 50/People’s Republic of China): On June 4, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney for the District of the Northern District of Georgia filed a civil denaturalization complaint against Victor San Shing Kwon in the Northern District of Georgia. In September 1994, Kwok sought admission to the United States under the identity of Xin Cheng Guo. After an immigration judge denied his application for an immigration benefit, Kwok sought admission to the United States by marrying a U.S. citizen. In his application to adjust his resident status, Kwok failed to disclose the prior denial of his prior application for an immigration benefit and his pending order of removal. There is no record that Kwok departed the United States as ordered by the immigration judge.
12. Louise Hunkporti (Age 64/Congo): In 1995, Hunkporti applied for and was denied an immigration benefit. When he was denied the immigration benefit, Hunkporti adopted a new identity and submitted a falsified application using the new identity. Hunkporti naturalized as a U.S. citizen on March 2, 2010 under the adopted identity. After USCIS digitized its paper fingerprint cards, the U.S. Department of Justice discovered that the fingerprints Hunkporti submitted when she naturalized matched those she submitted when she applied for the immigration benefit in 1995. The complaint alleges eight counts for her numerous misrepresentations and unlawful acts that adversely reflect her moral character.
13. Fernando Cristancho (Age 69/Colombia): Cristancho, an ordained Roman Catholic priest, entered the United States as a religious worker and then used his leadership position in the church to gain access to minor victims. In that capacity, Mr. Cristancho sexually groomed and abused a minor parishioner from when the victim was 11 to 13 years old. Mr. Cristancho later admitted to the crime—and egregious conduct involving other minor victims—and pleaded guilty to one count of coercion and enticement in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b), resulting in a 22-year prison sentence. The denaturalization complaint filed against Mr. Cristancho charges that he hid his ongoing crime from immigration officials, thereby illegally procuring his naturalization by concealing material facts and willfully misrepresenting his unlawful sexual activity and by his inability to demonstrate the requisite good moral character in support of his application. (Park/Burley)
14. Ronnie Price (Age 40/Trinidad and Tobago): Before his naturalization in 2016, 30-year-old Ronnie Price had sexual intercourse with a female who was under 16 – a statutory rape crime to which he eventually pled guilty.  During his naturalization proceedings, however, Price claimed he had never committed a crime for which he had not been arrested, he falsely testified to the same, and he concealed facts that would have uncovered his criminal activity.  The denaturalization complaint alleges that Price engaged in unlawful conduct during a critical statutory period during which he was required by law to maintain good moral character, that he provided false testimony during his naturalization interview, and that he did so in order to conceal his crimes and willfully misrepresent material facts that would have revealed his ineligibility for the privilege of United States citizenship.
15. Rodger George Gurdon (Age 55/Jamaica): Prior to naturalizing in 2011, Rodger George Gurdon, a native of Jamaica, engaged in a conspiracy to steal and resell medical products from military hospitals operated by the Department of Defense.  Gurdon likewise engaged in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 100 kilograms of a substance containing marijuana.  In 2013, after he naturalized, Gurdon pled guilty to Conspiring to Steal Pre-Retail Medical Products, Interstate Receipt of Stolen Property, and Conspiring to Distribute Marijuana, with the conspiracies occurring during the period in which Gurdon was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character to naturalize.  The denaturalization complaint against Gurdon alleges that, during the period in which he was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character, Gurdon was precluded from doing so because he had committed unlawful acts that adversely reflected on his moral character, and falsely testified about his crimes.  Additionally, the complaint alleges that Gurdon willfully misrepresented the material fact of his crimes during his naturalization proceedings. (McManus/Bic)
16. Jheromell Obejera Arcilla (Age 39/Philippines): On Friday, June 5, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland filed a civil denaturalization complaint in the United States District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, against Jheromell Obejera Arcilla, a native of the Philippines who, prior to his naturalization, began sexually abusing the 15-year-old daughter of his biological cousin, with whom he lived. The sexual abuse lasted for over a year, during which time Mr. Arcilla successfully naturalized. In 2020, a grand jury indicted Mr. Arcilla on three counts of sexual offenses in violation of the Maryland criminal code, and in 2021, Mr. Arcilla pleaded guilty to one of those counts, sex abuse of a minor. Mr. Arcilla lied about the commission of this crime in connection with his naturalization application. The United States has brought three claims against Mr. Arcilla seeking his denaturalization, including claims that he lacked the good moral character to become a U.S. citizen and that he knowingly lied to immigration authorities.
17. Milagros Marileisis Acosta Torres (Age 40/Cuba): Before Milagros Marileisis Acosta Torres naturalized, she was part of a larger conspiracy to defraud a tribal casino in Florida.  Her husband and several others stole millions of dollars from the casino by creating false credit vouchers.  Acosta Torres subsequently engaged in various financial transactions involving the criminal proceeds to disguise the fact that they were obtained though fraud and to circumvent transaction reporting requirements imposed by federal and state law.  But in her naturalization application and interview, Acosta Torres falsely claimed that she had never committed a crime or offense for which she had not been arrested.  The denaturalization complaint against Acosta Torres alleges that she is subject to denaturalization because during the period in which she was statutorily required to demonstrate good moral character, she committed unlawful acts that adversely reflected on her moral character and falsely testified about her crime.  Additionally, she willfully misrepresented the material fact of her crime during her naturalization proceedings.

These cases were prosecuted by the Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation, with assistance from USCIS, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Southern District of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Southern District of Florida, Middle District of Georgia, Northern District of Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, and New Jersey.

The claims made in the complaints are allegations only, and there has been no determination of liability.