ALEXANDRIA, La. – United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced that a federal jury found an Angolan national guilty Monday of refusing to leave the country twice after being ordered to depart.
Faustino Ngay, 46, of Cazengo, Angola, was found guilty of two counts of failure to depart. United States District Judge Dee D. Drell presided over the trial, which took place Monday. The jury returned a guilty verdict after deliberating for 15 minutes. Evidence admitted at trial revealed that on two occasions U.S. Immigration Enforcement Agents attempted to remove Ngay from the country via the Alexandria International Airport by putting him on a commercial flight. The defendant hampered agents’ ability to remove him by verbally and physically resisting on November 17, 2015. The defendant also hampered attempts to put him on a commercial flight at the Alexandria airport on December 14, 2015. His outbursts prevented him from boarding the flights because of airline and Transportation Security Administration safety policies.
Ngay faces four years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for each count. Sentencing has been set for March 16 2017.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Enforcement and Removal Operations conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic A. Rossetti is prosecuting the case.