Ecuadorian National Sentenced to Prison for Passport Fraud

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MANUEL ANTONIO GUAMAN, 34, a citizen of Ecuador last residing in Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to six months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release for passport fraud.

According to court documents and statements made in court, GUAMAN is a native and citizen of Ecuador.  On or about August 2, 2006, he submitted in person an application for a U.S. passport, in the name of another individual, at a U.S. Post Office in Waterbury.  Claiming to be this individual, GUAMAN presented to the passport acceptance agent a Puerto Rican birth certificate and a Connecticut identity card.  Neither the birth certificate nor the identity card reflected the defendant’s true identity.  GUAMAN signed the passport application under oath claiming to be this other individual.  This passport was issued and used by GUAMAN to travel between the U.S. and Ecuador in 2012. 

On October 23, 2014, GUAMAN submitted a passport renewal application, and provided the previous passport as proof of his identity and U.S. citizenship.  On December 31, 2015, after conducting an investigation, law enforcement interviewed GUAMAN while he was incarcerated in a Connecticut Department of Correction facility.  GUAMAN admitted that he had signed and submitted the above-referenced passport renewal application, and that he was not the person whom he had claimed to be in the application.

On July 11, 2017, GUAMAN pleaded guilty to one count of use of a passport secured by false statement and one count of making a false statement in a passport application.

GUAMAN is currently serving a state sentence for assault in the first degree.  He will be removed to Ecuador after serving his state and federal prison terms.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Hal Chen.