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Illegal Alien Admits Assuming Identity of Active Duty Serviceman



PHOENIX, March 2 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Cirilo Espino Ibarra, 26,
of Mesa, Ariz., pleaded guilty Thursday to the felony offenses of False
Statements on a Passport Application and Illegal Alien in Possession of a
Firearm, in federal district court in Phoenix, before Magistrate Judge
Lawrence O. Anderson.
In the course of his guilty pleas, Espino Ibarra admitted the following
facts. With respect to the passport offense, on January 13, 2003, at a
passport office in Mesa, Espino Ibarra knowingly made false statements on
an application for a United States passport with intent to secure a
passport for his own use in violation of federal law. On the actual
application, Espino Ibarra provided the name of another individual, with a
birth date in 1978, and a place of birth in Westminster, California, all of
which he knew was false. In fact, on that date, the real individual named
on the passport application was on active duty with the United States Air
Force and stationed in Okinawa, Japan. Espino Ibarra admitted that he
applied for the passport in order to facilitate his remaining in the United
States and traveling back and forth to Mexico. With respect to the firearms
offense, on August 18, 2004, Espino Ibarra, while an alien illegally in the
United States, knowingly possessed a Hi-Point, Model C, 9mm, semi-automatic
pistol, with an obliterated serial number. At the time of this offense, the
firearm was stored in a pick-up truck Espino Ibarra had fraudulently
purchased using the identity of the person named on the passport
application.
Sentencing is set before Judge Susan R. Bolton on Monday, May 14, 2007,
at 1:30 p.m. in Phoenix. Magistrate Judge Anderson ordered that Espino
Ibarra remain in federal custody pending his sentencing.
A conviction for False Statements on a Passport Application carries a
maximum penalty of five years, a $250,000 fine or both. A conviction for
Illegal Alien in Possession of a Firearm carries a maximum penalty of 10
years, a $250,000 fine or both. In determining an actual sentence, Judge
Bolton will consult the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide
appropriate sentencing ranges. The judge, however, is not bound by those
guidelines in determining a sentence.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the United States State
Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and
Gilbert Police Department. The prosecution is being handled by Frederick A.
Battista, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: CR-06-810-PHX-SRB
RELEASE NUMBER: 2007-063(Ibarra)



SOURCE U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona

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