Foreign National Charged with Illegally Obtaining U.S. Citizenship and U.S. Passport

U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. – A federal grand jury returned an Indictment on April 20, 2026, charging a New Jersey man with illegally obtaining United States citizenship and for fraudulently obtaining a United States passport, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced.

Miguel Dario Bautista Jimenez, 41, of New Jersey was charged in a two-count Indictment with unlawful procurement of naturalization, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1425(b) and 2, and passport fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1542 and 2.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Miguel Dario Bautista Jimenez, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was removed from the United States in or around 2013, following a conviction in New York for criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree. At some point after his 2013 removal, Bautista re-entered the United States using a false identity after his fingerprints had been partially mutilated. Bautista then used this false identity to fraudulently obtain U.S. citizenship documents through naturalization, including a U.S. passport.

The charges of unlawful procurement of naturalization and passport fraud each carry a maximum penalty of ten years’ imprisonment. Each offense carries a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the gross loss or gain from the offense, whichever is greatest.

U.S. Attorney Frazer credited special agents of Homeland Security Investigations, New Jersey, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael McCarthy, the Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General, New York Field Division, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Amy Connelly, and the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, New York Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian Wood, with the investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Trevor Chenoweth of the Cybercrime Unit and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Priscilla Gabela of the General Crimes Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.