SCRANTON — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.
SCRANTON- The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Luis Miguel Mejia-Lugo, age 30, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced yesterday to 42 months’ imprisonment to be followed by one year of supervised release by United States District Court Judge Robert D. Mariani, for aggravated identity theft and illegal reentry of a removed alien offenses.
According to United States Attorney John C. Gurganus, on April 29, 2020, Mejia-Lugo, a previously deported alien with prior felony convictions for armed robbery and assault, was arrested in Hazleton and found in possession of a loaded firearm. Further investigation revealed that Mejia-Lugo fraudulently used the identity of a United States citizen, including a counterfeit social security card, to obtain a Pennsylvania Driver’s License and, then, to unlawfully purchase the firearm in question.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffery St John prosecuted the case.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
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