Mergia Negussie Habteyes, U.S. Citizenship Fraud, Virginia 2024

A 58-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen residing in Alexandria, Virginia has been sentenced to 37 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship.

Mergia Negussie Habteyes, who was born in Ethiopia, was able to come to the United States in 1999 by telling a series of lies to U.S. immigration authorities. He ultimately obtained U.S. citizenship in 2008.

According to admissions in the plea agreement, Habteyes participated in the persecution of detainees in Ethiopia from roughly 1977 to 1978 during a period of time known as the “Red Terror.” As part of actions led by a council of military officers in power at the time, known as the “Derg,” Habteyes injured and abused detainees on account of their political opinion by beating them with weapons including belts, rods and other objects, causing permanent scarring and injury to some of the detainees.

Negussie was able to conceal his past participation in the brutal persecution of political dissidents in order to enjoy the benefits of U.S. citizenship and escape accountability in Ethiopia.

“Negussie-Habteyes believed he could conceal his past participation in the brutal persecution of political dissidents in order to enjoy the benefits of U.S. citizenship and escape accountability in Ethiopia,” said Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski. “This case demonstrates the Justice Department’s continued commitment to ensuring that the United States does not become a safe haven for human rights violators.”

The case was investigated by ICE HSI Washington, D.C. and Sterling, Virginia Field Office with the support of the Human Rights Violators and War Crimes Center (HRVWCC). Established in 2009, the HRVWCC furthers the government’s efforts to identify, locate and prosecute human rights abusers in the United States, including those who are known or suspected to have participated in persecution, war crimes, genocide, torture, extrajudicial killings, female genital mutilation and the use or recruitment of child soldiers.

As a result of the conviction, Negussie’s U.S. citizenship was also revoked.

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