Former Cuban military pilot indicted in Miami for lying on U.S. immigration application, feds say
A former Cuban military pilot has been indicted in Miami on federal charges after prosecutors say he lied about his past to U S immigration functionaries in an effort to obtain permanent residency federal administrators explained According to the Department of Justice -year-old Luis Raul Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez of Cuba is charged with fraud and misuse of visas permits and other documents as well as making false statements to a federal agency If convicted on all counts he faces up to years in federal prison Prosecutors allege that on April Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez submitted an immigration form falsely claiming he had never served in a military or police unit received weapons training or participated in any armed group Investigators say he had in fact served in Cuba s Revolutionary Air and Air Defense Force from to This man s past as a longtime military pilot for the evil Castro regime which has wrought untold suffering on the Cuban people should have been front and center in his immigration file explained Attorney General Pamela Bondi This Department of Justice will vigorously prosecute anyone who lies about their past to take advantage of America s immigration system The scenario was investigated by FBI Miami with assistance from the FBI Jacksonville Field Office U S Citizenship and Immigration Services U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U S Department of State s Diplomatic Shield Amenity