KANSAS CITY, KAN. - An Iraqi man who falsified his application for a visa by claiming to have worked as a translator for the U.S. Army in Iraq was sentenced Wednesday to two years in federal prison, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.
Goran Sabah Ghafour, 35, who lived in Lawrence, Kan., while he was a graduate student at the University of Kansas, pleaded guilty to one count of visa fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
In his plea, Ghafour admitted he applied for a visa under a program allowing Iraqi nationals who worked for or on behalf of the U.S. government in Iraq to qualify for a visa. To support a false claim that he worked as a translator for the U.S. Army Ghafour fabricated a letter from an Army officer recognizing his work. In fact, the officer whose name was on the letter did not know Ghafour and did not consent to Ghafour writing the letter.
Beall commended Homeland Security Investigations and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley for their work on the case.