A Venezuelan couple will be deported from the United States after admitting they lied about their citizenship when they registered to vote.

Abraham E. Gomez, 46, and his wife, Mayen C. Gomez, 41, pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Covington to falsely claiming they were U.S. citizens. The Union couple registered to vote in 2004 in Boone County, where they lived.

Their crime was discovered after an anonymous tip to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said their attorney, John Arnett.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob McBride said the couple were applying for their drivers licenses when they signed up to vote. By signing the form, they were claiming to be U.S. citizens, when they are in reality citizens of Venezuela.

The couple entered the United States on a visa several years ago, but stayed on after it expired, McBride said.

Both college graduates, they were living and working in Boone County when arrested, Arnett said. The couple have two children, who will return with their parents to the capital city of Caracas, Arnett said.

In a plea agreement, the couple agreed to plead guilty in return for a likely sentence of up to six months in prison. But McBride said he would not object to probation for the couple, who have agreed not to fight deportation proceedings.

Indeed, said Arnett, the couple will voluntarily leave the county as soon as the legal proceedings are over. They are eager to return so their children - who had been attending Boone County schools - can enroll in a school in Venezuela.

In addition to the felony conviction and deportation, the charge brings a steep price for the couple - Arnett said it's unlikely they will be allowed to ever again enter the United States, even for a visit.

However, the couple's children, who were born in Venezuela, and are also citizens of that nation, will not be subjected to that restriction, Arnett said.

Publication date: 08-12-2006
http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar ... 20327/1014