A 60-year-old Panama national living in Pensacola pleaded guilty to federal passport fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced July 10.
Celso Javier Melgar obtained a Business and Pleasure Visa in 1998 and moved to the U.S. from Panama, and in 2003 applied for a U.S. passport using a U.S. citizen’s identity. He also reapplied for the passport in 2015.
“There is a right way and a wrong way to enter the and remain in the United States, but preying on U.S. citizens and fraudulently utilizing their identities to do so is a one-way ticket to federal prison,” said U.S. Attorney John Heekin.
Law enforcement arrested Melgar in March, at which time he admitted to purchasing fraudulent documents to obtain a driver’s license and passport.
Melgar also failed to return to Panama when his visa expired in 2008. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison and will be deported at the end of his sentence, according to Heekin.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Panama national in Pensacola pleads guilty to federal passport fraud
Reporting by Benjamin Johnson, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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