A Mexican citizen most recently living in Meriden was sentenced in Bridgeport federal court Friday to 18 months in prison, followed by a year of supervised release, for falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen.

Alejandro Garcia Silva, 46, had pleaded guilty to the charge on June 8 this year.

In August 2009, according to court documents, Silva was in the custody of the state Department of Correction under an assumed identity. A fingerprint check showed that he was a previously deported Mexican citizen.

He was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where court documents say he would not acknowledge his true identity. While he was being held, Silva arranged to have someone bring him a social security card, a Texas birth certificate and a Connecticut state identification card, all in the name of an assumed identity, court documents show. Silva subsequently admitted that he had purchased the social security card and birth certificate at a flea market in Texas.

Further investigation showed Silva had been deported from the U.S. in 2001, following numerous convictions. Those included one for attempted sexual assault and six for driving under the influence, said court documents. Silva returned to the U.S. and was convicted of multiple felonies, including second-degree assault, while living in Connecticut between 2004 and 2007, court documents show.

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