An ex-Maryland priest currently imprisoned for child molestation will be deported to Columbia after federal officials convicted the predator of lying on his immigration paperwork to obtain US citizenship.
Jorge Antonio Velez-Lopez, a Colombian immigrant, will be booted back to his native country after a federal judge in Louisiana sentenced him for passport fraud, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana.
Prosecutors said the fraudster was naturalized as an American citizen in May 2013 after repeatedly misinforming immigration officials that he had never committed a crime “for which he had not been arrested.”
Officials later learned he had sexually abused a teenage girl from 2005 to 2009 while serving as a priest at the Resurrection of Our Lord Parish in Laurel – a heinous crime that earned him a 9-year sentence in 2021 after pleading guilty to multiple sex offenses.
“The United States Department of Justice, ICE, and our other federal law enforcement partners will use every tool in our arsenal to protect children and will prosecute and seek deportation of those who fraudulently obtain U.S. citizenship,” Acting US Attorney Alexander Van Hook said in a statement.
Velez-Lopez arrived in the US as a temporary religious worker in 2003, was approved as a permanent resident in 2007 and filed his fraudulent application in March 2013, prosecutors said.
He again lied to a USCIS officer two months later during an interview where he verbally confirmed, and later swore under oath, that he never provided false information during the citizenship process.
While working at the Maryland parish, under the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Velez-Lopez was accused of sexually abusing the young victim, who reported the abuse in 2016, according to WMAR.
The former cleric was arrested in February 2020 for the sick crime after he was relocated to the Archdiocese of Alexandria, Louisiana, the outlet reported.
Velez-Lopez, who is currently serving his state prison sentence at the Jessup Correctional Institution in Maryland, was sentenced to 12 months time served on his federal charge and a year of supervised release, prosecutors said.
He will be transferred to the custody of ICE after completing both sentences.
“This case sends a clear message to individuals who commit any type of sexual offense, particularly those involving children, during the naturalization process — we will ensure that justice is done,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Yaakov Roth said.
“The Justice Department’s Office of Immigration Litigation will continue to hold individuals responsible for sexual offense, especially those involving child victims.”
If you have been sexually assaulted and live in New York, you can call 1-800-942-6906 for free and confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the state, you can dial the 24/7 National Sexual Assault hotline at 1-800-656-4673.