Massachusetts man pleads guilty to immigration, social security fraud

BOSTON — A suburban Boston man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday on a variety of fraud charges related to his naturalization process.

This guilty plea resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the U.S. Social Security Administration’s Office of the Inspector General.

Princehakeem Awolesi, 48, of Lynn, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining U.S. citizenship, a U.S. passport and using a false Social Security number.  Awolesi was arrested in August 2015 and charged with violating various federal immigration and social security laws.  His sentencing is scheduled for March 17, 2016. 

In 2005, as part of his application for naturalization, Awolesi submitted a false birth certificate and made numerous false statements to the officials deciding whether he qualified for citizenship, including his use of a prior identity.  Awolesi was granted citizenship in 2005 and applied for a passport the same year, again concealing his use of another identity.  Later, when applying for a replacement passport, Awolesi used a social security number he had obtained by making false statements to the Social Security Administration.  

As a result of the conviction on the citizenship charge, Awolesi’s U.S. citizenship will be revoked. 

The charges of naturalization and passport fraud each provide a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  The charge of falsely obtaining a social security number provides for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.