On August 29, Dorian Velasquez, 43, a convicted child molester, pled guilty to naturalization fraud for unlawfully obtaining U.S. citizenship.
Velasquez, born in Guatemala, submitted an Application for Naturalization to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on April 11, 2014. On his application, Velasquez falsely answered “No” to the question regarding past crimes. During a USCIS interview on July 24, 2014, he repeated this falsehood under oath. Velasquez was naturalized as a U.S. citizen on July 25, 2015, after taking the Oath of Allegiance.
In October 2019, Velasquez was convicted of four counts of lewd and lascivious molestation of a child, committed between July 19, 2011, and July 19, 2015. He was not arrested for these offenses until after his naturalization.
Velasquez is scheduled for sentencing on November 19 and faces up to 10 years in prison and automatic revocation of his U.S. citizenship. The federal district court judge will determine the sentence based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe, ICE Field Office Director Garrett Ripa, and USCIS Miami and Caribbean District Director Brett R. Rinehart announced the case. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Shaw is prosecuting the case, which was part of Operation False Haven, a national initiative targeting egregious felons who fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship.