An Indian American man has pleaded guilty to unlawfully acquiring US citizenship based on fraud documents and also for lying.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said that Jaiprakash Gulvady, a 51-year-old Indian American man, has pleaded guilty to procuring citizenship or naturalization unlawfully, misusing evidence of citizenship or naturalization, making false statements in a passport application, and using a passport secured by false statements.
His plea agreement came following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
Gulvady, who now lives in Florida, faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.
His conviction for unlawfully procuring citizenship or naturalization will result in the automatic revocation of his US citizenship when he is sentenced. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to the plea agreement, Gulvady came to the US in 2001 on a temporary business visa.
In August 2008, less than two weeks after divorcing his wife, a US citizen he had married the year before, he married another American citizen.
Based on that marriage, he adjusted his immigration status and became a lawful permanent resident in June 2009.
Two months later, in August 2009, he travelled to India for the first time since his 2001 arrival in the US. While in India, he married an Indian woman.
On a subsequent visit to India, Gulvady and his Indian spouse conceived their first and only child, who was born in January 2011.
In August 2013, Gulvady’s marriage to his US citizen wife was dissolved, ICE said.
The following year, Gulvady filed an application for naturalization and falsely stated that he was not currently married; that he did not have any children; and that he had never been married to more than one person at the same time.
Based on that application, Gulvady became a naturalized US citizen in August 2014.
Using his fraudulently obtained Certificate of Naturalization as evidence of US citizenship, Gulvady filed an application for a US passport and falsely omitted his Indian spouse, ICE said.
The Department of State issued Gulvady a US passport, which he then used to re-enter the US on at least three occasions, ICE said.
Courtesy: PTI
