United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

NEW YORK RESIDENT PLEADS GUILTY TO PASSPORT FRAUD CHARGE

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that KARYNA YOLANDA ORDONEZ, also known as “Lara Monserrate Valentin” and “Martha Alvarado Diaz,” 38, of New York, pleaded guilty today before United States Magistrate Judge Thomas P. Smith 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, in March 2007, ORDONEZ, a United States citizen, applied for a U.S. passport in the Norwalk, Connecticut Passport Office using the name “Lara Monserrate Valentin,” which was not her true identity.  At the time, ORDONEZ also presented false documents with the false identity, including a credit card, a Puerto Rican birth certificate, a Connecticut driver’s identification card and a federal and state tax return.  After being confronted with the fact that the supporting documents were fraudulent, ORDONEZ admitted that she knowingly used a false name, and then falsely represented to an agent of the U.S. State Department that her true name was “Martha Diaz.”

ORDONEZ is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant on March 3, 2011, at which time ORDONEZ faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security.  The case is being prosecuted by Richard J. Schechter, Senior Litigation Counsel.

CONTACT:

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