Man from Mexico pleads guilty to posing as a Puerto Rican citizen on passport application in Morgan City

LAFAYETTE, La. – Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that a man from Mexico pleaded guilty last week to lying on a passport application he applied for at the Morgan City post office.

Roberto Calderon-Perez, 27, of Mexico, pleaded guilty Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patrick Hanna to one count of false statement in application for passport. The plea will become final when accepted by U.S. District Judge S. Maurice Hicks Jr. According to the guilty plea, Calderon-Perez submitted a passport application on June 20, 2016 to the Morgan City post office in the name of a Puerto Rican resident. He also submitted other false information such as a birth date and social security number. Law enforcement agents also found that the picture on his identification did not match older records of the individual with the same name in Puerto Rico.

Calderon-Perez faces 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. The court set a sentencing date of August 2, 2017.

The State Department and the Louisiana State Police conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert F. Moore is prosecuting the case.