United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

CITIZEN OF GUATEMALA ADMITS MAKING FALSE STATEMENTS WHEN APPLYING FOR U.S. PASSPORT

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JEIMI LISETTE GONZALEZ-TAPERIA, 23, a citizen of Guatemala recently residing in Endicott, New York, pleaded guilty today before United States Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford to one count of making a false statement in an application for a United States Passport.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on September 25, 2007, GONZALEZ-TAPERIA used a Connecticut driver’s license bearing her photograph and a Puerto Rican birth certificate, both in the name of another individual, in association with her submitting an application for a U.S. passport at a U.S. Post Office in Hartford.  Further investigation revealed that the home address GONZALEZ-TAPERIA provided on the passport application was not a valid address.

When she is sentenced, GONZALEZ-TAPERIA faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.

GONZALEZ-TAPERIA has been detained since her arrest on March 16, 2010.

This matter was investigated by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Deborah R. Slater.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov