St. Thomas, USVI – Chintamkumar Patel, 23, made his initial appearance on Friday, May 20, 2016, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Ruth Miller after being charged in a complaint with using a false document to defraud the United States, United States Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe announced. Patel was released pending further proceedings after a detention and preliminary hearings on Monday.
According to the complaint, on May 19, 2016, Patel appeared at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) primary inspection checkpoint at the Cyril E. King Airport, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and presented a false New York driver’s license. Patel was a ticketed passenger on an American Airlines flight to the mainland United States.
Under federal law, if convicted of using a false document to defraud the United States, Patel faces a maximum of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. This case is being investigated by CBP and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Everard Potter.
United States Attorney Sharpe reminds the public that a complaint is merely a formal charging document and is not evidence of guilt. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.