Laye Sekou Camara, Fraudulent Immigration Status, Pennsylvania 2024

A former Liberian rebel general has been sentenced to over four years in prison for concealing serious human rights violations to fraudulently obtain immigration status in the United States.

Laye Sekou Camara, 47, of Mays Landing, New Jersey, was sentenced to 57 months in prison by United States District Judge Chad F. Kenney for using and possessing a green card that Camara unlawfully obtained by making false statements about his involvement in the civil war in the West African nation of Liberia.

In March of 2022, the defendant was arrested on a criminal complaint and warrant and subsequently charged by indictment in May 2022 with three counts of using, and one count of possessing, a fraudulently obtained green card. Camara pleaded guilty to all charges against him in January of this year.

According to court records, in 2010, Camara, also known as “general K-1” and “general Dragon Master,” entered the United States pursuant to an immigrant visa and later obtained Lawful Permanent Resident status and a green card by falsely stating on immigration forms that he had never participated in extrajudicial killings or other acts of violence; had never been involved with a paramilitary unit, rebel group, or guerilla group; and had never engaged in the recruitment or use of child soldiers.

At a preliminary sentencing hearing held on January 23, nine Liberian witnesses described how Camara used his position of power in the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel group to terrorize civilians, committing extrajudicial killings and other atrocities.

“The defendant was a notorious LURD commander, brutal even by the standards of the Second Liberian Civil War, and he lied about his past to build a new life in the United States,” said U.S. Attorney David Metcalf. “Today’s sentence holds him responsible for his immigration fraud and officially ends his efforts to avoid accountability for his horrific crimes.”

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