Raleigh, NC – A Moore County man has been arrested and charged with naturalization fraud, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Jose De Jesus Munoz, a 34-year-old resident of Jackson Springs, North Carolina, was arrested on charges of naturalization fraud and made an initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge L. Patrick Auld in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Munoz, a naturalized citizen of the U.S. born in Mexico, is accused of knowingly failing to disclose during his naturalization proceedings in 2012 that he had committed the crime of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute at least 5 kilograms of cocaine from in or about 2011 to December 18, 2014, in the Western District of North Carolina.
Munoz was naturalized as a United States citizen in Wilmington, North Carolina, on September 17, 2012, and was subsequently sentenced to 70 months of imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute cocaine in 2016. He was also ordered to forfeit his interest in 14 bank accounts, multiple residential properties, as well as 10 pistols, five rifles, and three shotguns as instruments and proceeds of the conspiracy.
Munoz is charged in a four-count indictment with naturalization fraud. If convicted, he faces up to a maximum imprisonment term of 25 years per count, a $250,000 fine per count, and a term of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. A conviction for naturalization fraud also carries an automatic revocation of U.S. citizenship.
The case was investigated by Agents with ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security Investigations, assigned to the Document Benefit Fraud Task Force, as part of Operation False Haven, an ongoing initiative designed to identify and prosecute egregious felons who fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship.
Munoz is currently being held in a federal detention facility. An indictment is merely an accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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Key Facts
- State: North Carolina
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes|Violent Crime|Drug Trafficking
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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