Rochester Man Pleads Guilty to Naturalization Fraud

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Simarjeet Singh, age 50, of Rochester, New York, pled guilty today to naturalization fraud for providing false identification information during efforts to avoid deportation and become a United States citizen, announced United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman and Matthew Scarpino, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo Field Office.

As part of his guilty plea, Singh admitted to filing a 1995 asylum application using a false identity and to failing to disclose that he had previously filed for asylum in 1993. Singh also admitted that in 2010, when he sought U.S. citizenship, he failed to disclose his earlier efforts to obtain asylum.

Singh faces up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors. Sentencing is set for June 14, 2022, in Syracuse, before Chief United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby.

This case was investigated by HSI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily C. Powers.