BIRMINGHAM – A federal grand jury today indicted a Mexican man in the United States illegally for falsely representing himself as a U.S. citizen, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.

The two-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges HUGO GUDIEL VASQUEZ-MORALES, 30, with the false citizenship claim and with aggravated identity theft.

According to the indictment, Vasquez-Morales falsely represented himself as a citizen in Calhoun County on April 28 and, on that same date, unlawfully used the name and birth certificate of another man in relation to impersonating a U.S. citizen.

The maximum penalty for impersonating a U.S. citizen is three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The penalty for aggravated identity theft is a mandatory two-year sentence, consecutive to any other sentence in the case, and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell E. Penfield is prosecuting the case.

Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only charges. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government’s burden to prove a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.

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