A Nigerian who has been convicted of immigration fraud for lying on his application to become a naturalized citizen has lost his citizenship status and will face sentencing in October, U.S. attorney John Horn has announced.
"When someone engages in fraud and presents false information to become a naturalized citizen, it compromises the integrity and security of the naturalization process," he said in a news release Thursday. "The jury found the defendant completely subverted the process that allows immigrants to become citizens."
A jury convicted Olu Kanni Sanyaolu, 54, of Lawrenceville, on July 20, finding he fraudulently concealed information that would have made him ineligible to become a naturalized citizen. Evidence presented at trial showed that he had applied for naturalization with U.S. immigration officials in April 2009 and sworn he had never used another identity or been ordered deported.
Years later, investigators matched his fingerprints to Kunle Sanya Olukanni. Prosecutors said they found he had unsuccessfully applied for asylum and permanent resident status using the name Kunle Olukanni and had been ordered deported from the U.S. in 1998.
He then fraudulently assumed a new identity, using the name Olu Kanni Sanyaolu and successfully applied for political asylum, as a Nigerian Air Force member who was persecuted and tortured after a coup. Four years later, in 2009, he applied to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. Horn said he was actually ineligible to apply for citizenship.
"Identity fraud by those seeking to enter the United States poses a serious potential threat to national security and is one of the most important investigative focuses of Homeland Security Investigations," Nick Annan, special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations Atlanta, said in the news release. "HSI is firmly committed to stopping criminals who seek to exploit our nation's welcoming policy toward legal immigrants by engaging in fraud or deceit, and this case highlights the serious consequences awaiting anyone considering an attempt to cheat the system."
Assistant U.S. attorney Kelly K. Connors is prosecuting the case. Sentencing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Oct. 5 before U.S. District Judge William S. Duffey Jr. The defense attorney, Kendal Silas with the federal defender program, could not be reached.
The case number is 1:16-CR-126-WSD.