HSI Philadelphia works with federal partners to catch passport fraud criminal
PHILADELPHIA — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) case led to a Dec. 19 sentencing of a Jamaican citizen to eight months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for passport fraud.
Federal authorities initially arrested Wayne Morgan, 42, at Philadelphia International Airport on June 6 after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers discovered that Morgan made false statements and assumed the identity of a Florida man in his application for a U.S. passport.
Special agents from HSI and from the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) conducted the investigation and filed the arrest charges.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania prosecuted Morgan, who presented a guilty plea on Sept. 23.
“This criminal’s sentence is a lesson to anyone who tries to unlawfully enter our country,” said John Kelleghan, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations Philadelphia. “We will continue to work with CBP and other partners to safeguard our nation’s access.”
Morgan arrived in Philadelphia the evening of June 5 from Montego Bay, Jamaica, and presented a U.S. passport in the name of a U.S. citizen from Florida to a CBP officer. The CBP officer referred him to a comprehensive secondary inspection where a biometric examination revealed a Department of State record on Morgan, a Jamaican citizen who was denied a U.S. visitor’s Visa in 2007.
“Violating U.S. immigration law is a very serious offense and U.S. Customs and Border Protection hopes this conviction sends a strong message to deter others wishing to violate our nation’s immigration laws. This case also illustrates the tremendous collaboration between our respective law enforcement agencies to end this impostor’s charade,” said Susan Stranieri, CBP Port Director for the Area Port of Philadelphia.
Morgan will be returned to Jamaica upon adjudication of his charges and was also sentenced to pay a $100 special assessment fee.
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