Filipino Woman Sentenced to Time Served for Passport Fraud

Bangor, Maine:  United States Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced that Emelita Ignacio Arindela, a/k/a “Esperanza Ignacio Arindela,” “Esperanza Hooper,” “Emily I. Arindela,” and “Emily Ignacio Arindela,” 43, of Mount Desert Island, Maine, and previously of the Philippines, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge Jon D. Levy to time served (10 days) and one year of supervised release for passport fraud.  Arindela pleaded guilty on April 12, 2018.

According to court records, in 2000, the defendant assumed the name and date of birth of her older sister in order to marry a U.S. citizen in the City of Valenzuela, Philippines.  In 2002, she entered the United States under her sister’s identity.  In 2009, she became a naturalized U.S. citizen using her sister’s identity. Later that year, she legally changed her name to Emily I. Arindela.  In 2010, she applied for a U.S. passport using her new name and her sister’s date of birth.  

The case was investigated by the Diplomatic Security Service of the U.S. Department of State.