CEDAR RAPIDS – An illegal alien who assumed the identity of a U.S. citizen, obtained a U.S. passport, and voted in the 2012 presidential election was sentenced today to more than four years in federal prison.
Abel Hernandez-Labra, age 44, an illegal alien living in Hampton, Iowa, received the prison term after a November 4, 2014, guilty plea to one count of making false statements in a passport application, one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of making a false claim of U.S. citizenship to register to vote, and one count of harboring an illegal alien.
In a plea agreement, Hernandez-Labra admitted that he is a Mexican citizen who illegally entered the United States. Hernandez-Labra admitted he purchased a birth certificate and social security number of an American citizen born in Puerto Rico and assumed that identity. Falsely claiming to be a United States citizen, Hernandez-Labra used those documents to obtain Iowa driver’s licenses which he in turn used to apply for and fraudulently obtain a U.S. passport in 2008 and to unlawfully register and vote in the 2012 federal election. Hernandez-Labra also admitted that, during 2014, he harbored and encouraged an illegal alien to reside unlawfully in the United States by providing work and a residence and by not reporting the alien to immigration authorities.
Hernandez-Labra was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Hernandez-Labra was sentenced to 51 months’ imprisonment and fined $5,000. A special assessment of $400 was imposed. He must also serve a three-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Hernandez-Labra is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Daniel C. Tvedt and investigated by agents from the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) Chicago Field Office; the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations; the Iowa Division of Investigations and Appeals; the Iowa Bureau of Investigation and Identity Protection; the Hampton Police Department; the Webster City Police Department; and the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
