Olusegun Ariyo
Antonio Velez-Lopez, a former priest with a child molestation conviction who was stripped of his American citizenship, has been sentenced to a year in prison.
Fox News reports that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said that Velez-Lopez, a 69-year-old Colombian citizen, was sentenced for passport fraud and ordered to be deported after serving his time.
ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations New Orleans acting Field Office Director Scott Ladwig said that “Child molesters like Velez who lied about their crimes to become citizens thought they could hide behind those who earned what they stole”.
Velez was arrested in Maryland in 2020 and was later charged with five counts of third-degree sex offense and one count of fourth-degree sex offense.
He pleaded guilty in 2021 to sexual abuse of a minor for whom he had temporary responsibility and was consequently sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender for life.
According to the report, he also admitted to sexually abusing a child from June 2003 through June 2009 while serving as the child’s priest.
ICE said that Velez entered the United States in 2003 as a temporary religious worker.
However, when he applied for permanent residency in 2007, he falsely stated that he had never “knowingly committed any crime of moral turpitude”.
He was granted permanent residency in 2007. When he applied for US citizenship, he again lied about his criminal history and about lying to US government officials.
He was naturalized as a US citizen on May 29, 2013. Authorities said that Velez had lied again when he applied for a U.S. passport in 2012.
ICE said that he was stripped of his American citizenship and ordered by a judge to be deported on February 28 this year.
