Convicted Sex Offender Indicted for Naturalization Fraud

TUCSON, Ariz. – Juan Antonio Ruiz, 47, a naturalized United States citizen, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Tucson on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, for Naturalization Fraud.

According to the indictment, in June 2015 Ruiz became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In his application for citizenship, his interview with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), and his naturalization oath ceremony, Ruiz answered “no” as to whether he had ever committed a crime for which he had not been arrested.

Three years later, in May 2018, Ruiz was arrested for the crimes of Sexual Conduct with a Minor Under Fifteen, committed between January 17, 2004 and January 16, 2008 and Attempted Molestation of a Child, committed between September 9, 2003 and September 8, 2006. In 2021, Ruiz pleaded guilty to those charges in the Superior Court of Arizona, Pima County, Case Number 20182491-001.

Naturalization Fraud carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 and loss of citizenship and cancelation of naturalization certificate.

An indictment is simply a method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation in this case. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, Sydney Yew, District of Arizona, Phoenix, is handling the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-25-01502-AMM-EJM
RELEASE NUMBER:    2025-043_Ruiz