Dominican National Guilty Of Making A False Claim To U.S. Citizenship

          CONCORD, N.H. – Pedro Julio Alcantar-Bernabel a/k/a Francis Villar de la Santos, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, pleaded guilty today in United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire to one count of Social Security Number Misuse and one count of Making a False Claim to United States Citizenship, announced Acting United States Attorney Donald Feith.

          On July 1, 2015, Alcantar-Bernabel applied for a driver’s license at the Department of Motor Vehicles in Manchester, New Hampshire using another person’s name, date of birth, and Social Security number.  He also indicated on the application that he was a United States citizen.  The Social Security card Alcantar-Bernabel produced as a means of identification appeared to have been altered, and the New Hampshire State Police were called to investigate.  Upon further investigation, it was discovered that Alcantar-Bernabel was encountered by the United States Coast Guard in August 2000 off the coast of Puerto Rico, at which time he admitted that he was a citizen of the Dominican Republic and was given a voluntary return to that country.  Fingerprint analysis confirmed that the individual claiming United States citizenship on the New Hampshire driver’s license application was the same individual who was returned to the Dominican Republic in 2000.

          Alcantar-Bernabel is scheduled to be sentenced on  April 13, 2016.  He is facing a maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment.  

          The case was investigated by the United States Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Karen Burzycki.