RALEIGH, N.C. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - North Carolina, Eastern), published as received.

RALEIGH, N.C. – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina announced that today in federal court, Mario Sotelo, age 49, a naturalized citizen of the United States born in Mexico, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Richard E. Myers II to four months imprisonment following a guilty plea to passport fraud. Moreover, Sotelo was civilly denaturalized as a United States citizen and ordered judicially removed from the United States.

According to court records, on September 5, 2008, Sotelo fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship by making a false statement under oath regarding his naturalization application.  In response to the question “Have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were not arrested?” he answered “No.”

On August 23, 2018, in the Superior Court of North Carolina in Chatham County, Sotelo was convicted of sixteen felony counts, including incest, first-degree sex offense with a child, indecent liberties with a child, and statutory rape, for crimes committed against multiple victims between 2003 and 2015.  Sotelo was sentenced to 23 years in prison.  Sotelo was not arrested until after he naturalized, thus immigration officials were unaware of his crimes.

“Ultimately, Sotelo was unable to escape the consequences of his criminal past, and he will now answer for his disturbing predatory behavior,” said ERO’s Atlanta Interim Field Office Director Francisco Madrigal.  “Removing violent, criminal non-citizens is a vital part of our mission to make our communities safer.”   

“The granting of United States citizenship is one of the most prized and ultimate benefits that the government can grant. The defendant exploited our immigration system and unlawfully secured his naturalization, which undermines both the nation’s security and our lawful immigration system, “ said G. Norman Acker, III, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement.

Agents with ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations, Homeland Security Investigations, and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, assigned to the Document Benefit Fraud Task Force, investigated the case as part of Operation False Haven, an ongoing initiative executed in conjunction with the Department of Justice’s Office of Immigration Litigation to aggressively identify and prosecute child molesters and other egregious felons who fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:20-cr-00173-M(1).

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