A Middle Eastern man who lived in the United States for nearly 10 years using the identity of his wife’s dead first husband pleaded guilty to fraud Thursday in federal court in Pittsburgh.
Mahmoud Almasry, 44, was ordered to time served since his arrest in February. In addition, his plea agreement calls for Almasry to be removed from the United States to Syria, where he is from.
According to the indictment, Almasry applied for refugee status to the U.S. from the country of Jordan in July 2016.
In his application, Almasry used the name “Mohammad Jiham,” which was the name of Almasry’s wife’s first husband who had died.
When Almasry arrived in the U.S. in November 2016, he entered using Jiham’s name, obtained a Social Security card and later applied for naturalization, all under the assumed name.
In February, Almasry was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with aggravated identity theft, as well as three counts of fraud and misuse of visas.
He pleaded guilty to the fraud charges, while the identity theft count was withdrawn.
As part of the plea agreement, Almasry consented to removal from the U.S. and waived his rights to challenge any immigration proceedings.
He must also pay a $300 special assessment.
Defense attorney Ryan Tutera said that his client, a Sunni Muslim, committed the initial crime when he was fleeing war-torn Syria.
“The regime in power when he led was not favorable to Sunni Muslims,” Tutera said.
The prosecution and defense negotiated the plea agreement quickly, the defense said.
“He wanted to go back to Syria now that there’s a new government,” Tutera said.